The Worst Connection
by radredknuxfan
Summary: In a Zootopia where the Night Howler case never happened, Judy Hopps was just trying to prove herself as a cop when she runs into a con artist named Nick Wilde. When she tries to take him in, though, she accidentally loses the keys to the cuffs that are keeping them locked together. Can they find a way to finally separate before they drive each other crazy? AU. Please R&R! COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day inside the city of Zootopia. The streets were incredibly busy, as animals were spending their valuable time either heading to work for the day or simply using their free time in different ways.

One of those animals who were already at work happened to be a bunny whose name was Judy Hopps. She had only recently moved into Zootopia after spending much of her young life living outside of the city in a place called Bunnyburrow.

Now, most of the folk who live in that town are more than comfortable eking out their lives selling carrots or performing other rural-related tasks. Judy, however, was different than that.

She had always wanted to be a police officer ever since she was little, and that determination had never wavered, even in the face of her parents reluctant to fully embrace her career choice due to the dangers involved with it.

While Judy could see some reasoning behind her parent's wishes, considering her…small stature…this still didn't prevent her from following her dreams as she made the decision to move to the city.

Unfortunately, things didn't start out well, as while she did manage to graduate from the police academy at the top of her class, the other officers at the department were reluctant to fully embrace the first rabbit officer considering she was only there thanks to Mayor Lionheart's Mammal Inclusion Initiative.

So anyway, while the other officers managed to get some more interesting cases, Judy ended up getting stuck with parking duty. Even though she was very unhappy to get stuck with something so boring and thankless, she was determined to prove herself in any way possible.

As Judy drove through the streets inside a small meter maid cart that barely outstripped the sloths in town, her mind began to wander as she tried to figure out a way to go above and beyond Chief Bogo's admittedly low expectations.

"Okay Judy, the Chief expects you to get a hundred tickets printed by the end of the day? Easy. I can even double that, and by lunch time, too! Oh, I'll show you that I'm not a bunny to be pushed around." she said to herself, a determined look on her face as she continued driving.

After a few minutes, though, Judy's ear immediately flew up as she heard the telltale crank of a parking meter expiring.

"Yes! Thank you enhanced hearing!" Judy said, pumping her fist as she quickly drove over to the offending meter.

Unfortunately, when she got out of her cart and took a look at the offending car in question, she found it to be way taller than she was. Luckily, though, she was very resourceful.

Planning out her moves carefully, she jumped up as high as she could, bouncing off of the top of her cart on to the parking meter and finally landing on top of the car.

Satisfied, Judy printed out the parking ticket and slipped it under the windshield wipers.

"Alright. This shouldn't be too hard." she said to herself before suddenly hearing another meter go off.

Judy rushed through the city as the meters went off at an alarming rate. Judy, however, was more determined to get her quota done than be concerned with why the meters were going off so quickly.

Eventually, Judy finally printed out her last ticket, finally reaching her quota just as the clock struck noon.

"Great job, Judy. Now to head back to the station and show Chief Bogo how this bunny operates."

However, before Judy could do as she said and head back to her cart, she noticed something strange going on across the street, as a fox in a tacky-looking Hawaiian shirt and tie snuck into an ice cream shop across the street, looking incredibly suspicious as he led a smaller looking fox in a grey costume into the shop.

"Is that his kid? What's he doing taking him to an ice cream place for elephants?"

Despite being new to the city, Judy could tell that the shop was for large mammals from the size of the door. As much as she wanted to just leave him alone and head back to the station, her curiosity overcame her as she walked across the street and into the shop.

* * *

Inside the shop, which was decorated like one of those old-style ice cream parlors Judy saw once in a while in Bunnyburrow, she found a large number of elephants in line, looking very impatient. It came as a surprise to her exactly why that was the case, though, as she found the two foxes had somehow managed to get to the front of the line, which seemed impossible considering the short amount of time that passed between the two of them going in and Judy following.

"One Jumbo Pop, please." said the fox as he looked up at the elephant at the counter.

"Excuse me? These pops are meant for elephants, not foxes like you. Now please move along. I've got a bunch of customers waiting."

Judy watched as the fox looked away for a second before quickly turning back towards the elephant, a sly smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. It isn't actually for me. You see, my son here, he's always wanted to become an elephant ever since he's been little. Now, I know it doesn't seem realistic to have those kinds of dreams, but seriously. I'm his dad! I couldn't say no to that face."

The smaller fox quickly pulled the hood of his costume over his head, revealing an elaborate-looking tusk and ears, which made the kid look just like a tiny elephant. He even tooted to emphasize his point as well, which caused even Judy to giggle a bit.

"See? Isn't he precious? I bet you'd want to sell that Jumbo Pop to him now."

Judy looked up at the elephant, expecting him to willingly sell the pop to him now, but to her surprise, the elephant remained firm.

"No, I don't. If you'll look over on that wall, you might notice a sign that says that we have the right to refuse service to anyone that my products are not suited for, and in this case, neither of you are, so please get out of my store!"

The elephant pointed over to one of the walls, and both the fox and Judy noticed that there was indeed a sign pointing out what the elephant had just pointed out.

Judy considered just letting things go as is and not insert herself into the proceedings, but her insistence on helping others out overrode her other desire, and she stepped forwards, finally making herself known.

"You know, I really think you should be a little bit nicer to this father and son over here. They're just trying to buy a popsicle and you're essentially spitting in their faces!"

"And what do you plan on doing about that, little bunny?" asked the elephant.

"Well, Mister…Jumbeaux. I believe that I am a cop, as you can tell by the uniform, and I can write you up for a health code violation considering your…method…of serving your customers."

Judy held out her hand, pointing towards one of his workers, who was absentmindedly scooping ice cream with his trunk and spitting it into the bowl.

"I can't imagine how much snot is in that ice cream right now." said Judy, suppressing an involuntary shudder.

As for Mr. Jumbeaux, he noticed all of the customers' looks on their faces when they were told of what was in the ice cream they were eating and rightfully freaked out.

"Please, this is all I have! A health code violation will destroy my business!"

"Hey, I'm willing to let you off with a warning if you just serve those two." she said, pointing towards the two foxes.

"Alright! Alright, I'll do it. It's fifteen dollars." said Jumbeaux as he turned towards the foxes, the bigger one's face lighting up as he realized they were finally getting what they wanted.

However, his face soon fell when he patted at his pockets and realized that he forgot something important.

"Oh no…I think I might have left my wallet at home. Sorry, little buddy, it looks like we're gonna have to head home without that Jumbo Pop."

The bigger fox grabbed his son's hand and began leading him out of the store, looking dejected. However, Judy didn't want her attempt to make things right to go in vain, so she walked up to the counter and slapped a twenty dollar bill down with her paw.

"Keep the change."

* * *

Unfortunately for Judy, the twenty dollar bill she had was most of what she had set aside for lunch today, but seeing the look of happiness on the father and son's faces (despite the son's face being covered by an elephant costume) made it all worthwhile for the rabbit officer.

"Wow, thanks so much for the assistance, officer. You don't know how happy I am that my son gets to taste a treat like this." said the father.

"Well, that is my job, you know. Helping people out is my specialty." said Judy, placing her hands on her hips.

Nick gave Judy a warm smile before leading his son away.

"Come on, little buddy. Use both of your hands."

Judy watched as the two foxes went down the street, but instead of heading around the corner like she expected, the two of them went into an alleyway, which caught her very much off guard.

At first, Judy began to think that they weren't as well off as she originally thought they were judging from the way they acted inside the ice cream shop, but as she walked over and took a peek into the alleyway, she found a large panel van with a garish looking paint job on it, as Finnick loaded the popsicle into the van.

"Come on Finnick, hurry up! We've got two hours until the lemmings clear out of the offices, and we've got a long drive ahead of us!" said Nick, who was in the driver's seat, leaning out of the window.

"Hey, I don't see you helping me carry this thing! It's double my size!" said Finnick, with a deep voice that came as a pretty good shock to the normally unflappable rabbit.

Eventually, Finnick managed to get the doors closed, and he hopped into the van soon after. As for Judy, she quickly ran towards her cart, her suspicions about the foxes' real motives overcoming her intent to return to the station as she began following the two of them.

Judy watched closely as the two foxes drove all the way to Sahara Square, Nick melting the ice pop on top of a building as Finnick caught the juice in a series of jars, loading them into the van.

The two foxes then went over to Tundra Town, Finnick creating paw prints in the snow and placing small wooden sticks into each of the prints as Nick filled them with the juice.

"Wait a second. Are they making popsicles?" asked Judy to herself as she hid behind a nearby snowbank.

Eventually, they returned to the main city, and Judy watched at a safe distance as Nick set up a small booth, placing each of the popsicles on display as a long line of lemmings came out of the nearby office building and headed right towards the booth.

The puzzled look on Judy's face was soon replaced with mild indignation as Nick began handing out the pops, collecting money from the lemmings as they chewed on the pops, tossing the sticks into a nearby recycle bin, only for the side to open up as the smaller fox named Finnick rolled a small cart stacked with the sticks back into the van.

As much as Judy wanted to confront him right there, she couldn't help but wonder what they were doing with the used sticks, but she didn't have to wait any longer, though, as the foxes drove to a nearby construction yard inside Little Rodentia and left it next to a rat foreman.

"Here's the redwood you asked for." said Nick as he collected the money that the foreman handed over.

"Ooh, that is it!" said Judy, having had enough of watching her kind gesture be thrown in her face like that.

After following the two of them to another alleyway, Judy angrily made her way into said alleyway just as Nick was splitting the money between him and Finnick.

"Hey! Don't move!" said Judy, making her presence known.

Nick flinched, his eyes widening in surprise before they returned to their normal half-lidded stare, a smirk on his face as he saw Judy walking towards her.

"Oh hey, it's you again! Thanks again for buying us that popsicle by the way."

"Actually, that's what I'm here for. I saw the two of you using the popsicle that I bought for you just to make money."

"So? That doesn't mean that I was doing anything wrong."

"Excuse me?" asked Judy, indignant.

"Listen, lady. Just because someone buys a popsicle doesn't mean they have to eat it. Life doesn't work that way, especially when you're as resourceful as me." he said, smirking once more.

"That doesn't mean you can just rip people off like that! It's not right!"

"News flash, Carrots! This city isn't as precious as you think it is. You have to do some desperate things in order to get by in this world. But hey, it's working out pretty well for me so far." he said, spreading his arms wide.

"Oh really? And how well are things going for you right now?" she asked, secretly pulling something out of her pocket when she realized that she had got him flustered enough so that something will slip out.

"I'm making two hundred bucks a day doing this since I was twelve, and believe me, all of the money I earned was completely legit, and it's all mine and Finnick's."

Judy immediately knew that she had managed to catch him saying something he shouldn't have, so she immediately went into action.

"Wow, that's really great. Too bad you're not going to be able to use any of that money, though, because you're under arrest."

"For what? Hurting your feewings?" he asked, infusing as much smarm as he could into the last word.

"Felony tax evasion."

Nick's eyes widened in shock as he realized that he hadn't considered that factor.

"Yep, I've bet that you never filed a tax form in your life, have you? Let's see, with two hundred dollars, that's gotta be around oh...one million four hundred and sixty thousand. And judging from how much you're bragging about it, I assume that none of that was ever reported. That's not good, my friend." said Judy, finally looking smug herself.

"Hey, it's my word against yours, Carrots! Who do you think they're going to believe?"

"No, I believe it's your word against yours."

Judy then pulled out a simple looking pen shaped like a carrot, but after pressing a button, Nick's eyes widened further as he heard his own voice come out from a secret recorder, repeating exactly what he said about his income.

Nick's thoughts were soon rudely interrupted when he heard a click noise from below him. Looking down, he saw that a metal cuff was placed around his right wrist, the ring too small for him to simply slip his hand through.

To his surprise, though, he saw that the other cuff was actually attached to the officer's wrist as she firmly locked it with a small key she held in her free paw.

"Um, aren't handcuffs supposed to go on both of my hands?" he asked, pointing out the flaw in Judy's plans.

"I'm aware of that. I just want to make absolutely sure that you don't get away." said Judy, although the look of apprehension on her face made Nick believe that there was something else going on.

He remained silent, though, planning out his next move considering he had no intentions of being taken in for money he earned fairly.

"Look over there!" said Nick, his eyes widening as he pointed towards the end of the alleyway.

Judy ended up falling for it, and as she looked towards where Nick was pointing, with her grip on the key loosening just a bit, he made a move to grab for the key. Unfortunately, with how quickly he moved his hand to grab it, all he managed to do was knock the key out of Judy's hand, and it was sent flying.

Both Nick and Judy rushed forwards, trying to catch the key as it flew, but just as they both made a jump for it, it slipped right through their fingers and into a nearby grate.

Judy looked over at Nick, glaring at him as the fox could only muster a sheepish smile.

"Uh…sorry?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Sorry? That's all you can say?"

Judy stood up, an annoyed look on her face as she glared at Nick, who picked himself up and began dusting himself off just as Judy continued to rant.

"Now we're stuck together, and all because you can't seem to take the hint that I was trying to take you in!"

"Hey, you gave me the option!"

Judy paused, caught off guard by the fox's odd comeback.

"Excuse me?" she asked, flustered.

"You heard me. If you put the handcuffs on both of my wrists, like I suggested, then we wouldn't be having this problem."

"That…that still doesn't excuse you for trying to steal the key from me!" said Judy, faltering when she realized that Nick had a point.

Nick sighed.

"Okay, so going for the key wasn't the best idea I've ever had. Way to be an idiot, me." he said, lightly smacking himself on the side of the head with his free hand. "I should have just grabbed that crowbar I had on me and knocked you out. Bam! No more dumb bunny chasing after me."

Judy noticeably panicked for a moment before remembering her experience with some types of criminals through the academy, as well as through television.

"Don't lie to me. You're a con man. Con men are almost never armed."

"And what makes you think that?" he asked, smirking.

"Because there's no way you're going to be able to conceal a crowbar under that Hawaiian shirt you're wearing."

Nick's eyes widened as he realized that she was right. Unless he could somehow stuff an entire crowbar down his pants, which was asking a lot, it would stick out like a sore thumb against the thin shirt he was wearing.

"Dang. Score one for Carrots."

The two of them soon fell silent, both of them finally able to vent after the predicament they now found themselves in. However, this led to them finally hearing something else strange that was going on inside the alley.

"Is that…laughing?"

Nick looked behind him to find, surprisingly enough, Finnick laughing his head off as he rolled around on the ground.

"Oh man, that is rich! How can you manage to end up getting yourself chained to a dumb bunny like that?" Finnick gasped in between bouts of giggling.

Nick looked over at Judy and found that she had an annoyed look on her face. However, before she could go over and give Finnick a piece of her mind, Nick stepped in.

"Don't worry about this, Carrots. I'll handle the little fuzzball."

Judy was slightly taken aback by the fox's willingness to defend her, but she was soon pulled out of her thoughts when Nick, not paying attention, ended up forgetting about the fact that they were chained together and he nearly ended up dragging her along with him.

Thankfully, Judy managed to hold her ground, and Nick looked back towards her as they both could hear a new wave of giggles coming from the fennec fox.

"A little help?" asked Nick, giving her one of those smug smiles that she was really starting to get tired of.

Judy rolled her eyes before walking forwards, giving Nick enough room to reach Finnick as the tiny fox's giggles finally subsided.

"Hey Finnick? Why don't you go ahead and cut that out before my friend here takes you in for impeding justice?" he asked.

Finnick ignored Judy's immediate denial of being friends with Nick to focus on the question that he had.

"Oh really? So what…are we going to enter a three-legged race then?"

Nick gave Finnick a flat stare, realizing just how many things Finnick had wrong in that last question.

"Okay, first off, Carrots and I are cuffed by the paws."

"Will you stop calling me that?" asked Judy, annoyed at the demeaning nickname she was being called.

Nick ignored her, however, as he continued to focus on Finnick.

"Secondly, even if we were chained together by the leg, it would only be a three-legged race if it was just the two of us."

"Okay, fine! I get your point." said Finnick, finally calming down as he picked himself up and brushed off his clothes.

Nick smiled, happy that things were working out. However, he still had a bigger issue to deal with, so he turned towards Judy, looking at his newly cuffed hand as he raised it a bit to study the chain. Unfortunately, the short length of the chain led to Judy ending up being lifted a few feet off of the ground.

"Hey! Put me down!" she yelled.

Her police instincts were telling her to kick him in the face to defend herself, but unfortunately she couldn't get any momentum going to actually reach the fox.

Thankfully, Nick heard Judy's exclamation and lowered his arm, allowing Judy to get back on solid ground.

"Sorry about that. So, uh…is there any chance you've got a hairpin or something?"

"What? Why?" asked Judy, confused.

"Well, I'll admit that I haven't really practiced, considering it's not in my job description, but I think I might be able to pick this lock open."

"You know, I'd love to, but unfortunately I don't have long hair. I'm a 'dumb bunny', remember?" she said, using finger quotes to accentuate the dumb bunny part.

"Okay, I would say that was uncalled for considering it was Finnick who said that, but I suppose I do deserve some blame." said Nick, looking slightly hurt.

"No, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have said it like I did. I'm just…super annoyed that I'm in this mess."

Nick still looked pretty hurt, which forced Judy to quickly explain herself.

"I'm not blaming you for it, by the way. Frankly, I blame the both of us. We each had our own part in losing the keys."

The conversation turned a bit awkward for a few moments, as Judy was trying to think of a better way to end her last sentence, but thankfully Nick spoke up to prevent her from needing to do so.

"It's not a full apology, but I'll take it. Anyway, since we might be stuck together for a while, I think we should probably introduce ourselves."

Nick held out his free paw.

"Nick Wilde."

Judy was admittedly unsure of whether to shake Nick's hand, considering her experiences back home with Gideon Grey had taught her that foxes were untrustworthy. However, the earnest smile on Nick's face made her reconsider her stance, and she reluctantly reached out with her free paw and shook.

"Judy Hopps. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Although, I think I like Carrots better, to be honest."

Judy groaned in protest, not wanting to be labeled with something so demeaning, but her limited time with Nick has shown her that he was just as stubborn as she could be, so she reluctantly gave up, but not before giving Nick the biggest glare she could muster.

"Alright then, back to business. Hey Finnick, do you have any picks we could use?"

"Are you kidding, Nick? When have we ever needed to break into anything?" asked Finnick, giving Nick an annoyed look.

"Well, that's going to be a problem."

Judy watched as Nick fell silent, trying his best to formulate a plan to get the two of them out of their cuffs so that they could go on their separate ways.

Unfortunately, Nick noticed the look he was being given, and acted accordingly.

"Hey Carrots, why don't you put that brain of yours to good use and help me instead of staring at me like that?"

Realizing that she was indeed staring, Judy nearly jumped before she immediately went to work formulating a plan herself.

As for Finnick, he couldn't help but glance between the two of them, unsure about what to do considering they were both concentrating as hard as they could. The tiny fennec fox considered just heading back to the van and taking a nap to pass the time, but before he could get anywhere, Nick suddenly spoke up, catching both him and Judy off guard.

"Why didn't I think of this before? All we have to do is head back to your police station, and we'll get one of the guys there to release us!"

"Before they lock you up for tax evasion. You do remember that she still has that recording of you, right?" asked Finnick, pointing towards Judy.

Nick turned towards Finnick as he intended to tell him that he was aware of that fact, but before he could do so, Judy herself suddenly interrupted.

"No! We can't do that!"

"Why not?" asked Nick, confused.

"Because I may have…swiped…this pair of handcuffs while I was heading out of the police station." said Judy awkwardly.

Nick's eyes widened, surprised that a cop like Judy would resort to something like that.

"Wow Carrots, I sure didn't expect that. A few more petty thefts and you'd be a good replacement for Duke."

Judy chose to ignore the random namedrop, filing it away in the back of her mind in favor of trying to defend herself.

"It's not like that!"

"And what is it like?" said Nick, making a show out of sitting back down to listen to her story.

"Well…it's actually my first official day on the job." she said, nervously rubbing at her cuffed arm as she spoke.

"Aha! I knew something was up when you chained us together!" said Nick.

"You do realize that makes it that you got arrested by a rookie cop, right? I'm sure your friends will love you for this." said Judy, not missing a beat with her comeback.

"Oh, she got you good, Nick!" said Finnick as Nick's eyes widened again.

"Okay, I think I deserved that, too." said Nick, quickly pulling himself together. "Continue, if you would please."

Judy paused, slightly taken aback by the change in Nick's tone, but she soon managed to speak once more.

"Anyway, I've just wanted nothing more than to be a real cop like some of the other guys at the station, but the only reason I even was a cop was because of the mayor's new plan. Needless to say, no one was happy to see me there, and the chief put me on parking duty instead of on something that I could really use my skills on, and that just…really…upset me."

Judy was noticeably getting upset as she reflected on how little the other officers thought of her, which led to Nick getting up from his seat and wrapping an arm around her in comfort.

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that, Carrots, but I don't think stealing a pair of handcuffs would make things any better."

Despite Nick only managing to shoot himself in the foot with his attempt at reassurance, Judy smiled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve before looking back at Nick.

"Yeah, I know. In hindsight maybe that wasn't the best idea."

"See? Now we're even." said Nick, smiling. "We both did something incredibly stupid today. Fair's fair, I guess."

Nick sighed heavily as the two of them fell silent, Finnick looking on as he began wondering why the two of them weren't tearing each other apart yet. Shrugging, he began heading towards the van, thinking about some places he could go to spend some of the money he made.

"Hey, I'm heading out for a bit. You two lovebirds have fun getting out of that mess."

Finnick's lovebird comment ended up striking a nerve in the two of them, as they both stood up way too quickly for them to realize that they were just far enough for the chain was taut before they were immediately pulled in each other's direction.

Thankfully, the two of them ignored the awkward position that they were just put in to focus on Finnick, who had already hopped into the driver's seat of the van.

"Hey! Get out of that van and help us!" yelled Nick.

"And we're not lovebirds!" said Judy, noticing Nick flinch when he heard that word again.

Finnick ignored them as started the van, but thankfully Judy's reaction time was impeccable as she rushed forwards. Unfortunately, she also had to drag Nick behind her, but once he got the picture and began running beside her, they managed to make it to the van just as Finnick hit the gas pedal, a long stick with a small board at the end serving as a way for him to reach it.

"God, what do you two want now?" asked Finnick, exasperated.

"I told you. You're helping us find a way to get these cuffs off." said Nick, pulling Judy into the van before closing the passenger side door.

"Why? I'm not the one chained to Little Miss Hopsy over here."

"Hey! I resent that remark!" said Judy.

"Sure you do. Anyway, what makes you think that I'd want to help you out? We're only partners because you pay me enough to get by. If I didn't get any money out of this, I would have been gone a long time ago, buddy!"

Nick sighed, realizing that actually convincing Finnick to go along with their adventure.

"Look, if it'll make you happy, we can work out a deal in exchange for you helping us out."

"I'm listening."

Nick paused, quickly thinking up a deal considering he hadn't already done so.

"Remind me again. How did our original split go?"

"Seventy-thirty." said Finnick, looking noticeably unhappy about being reminded of that fact.

"How about we bump it up to sixty-forty? That sound good?"

"Oh, try me."

"Fifty five-forty five?"

"Nope."

"Ugh. How about fifty-fifty? Does that sound better?"

Finnick inwardly admitted that there were some times when he wished that he could make as much money as Nick did while they were doing their con jobs. However, even with the clear opportunity he was given to drive the split in his favor, he reluctantly against doing so, his pride getting in the way of his chance at a payday.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Really?" asked Nick, surprised. "I was just about ready to give you fifty-five."

"Don't push it, Nick."

"Alright, I get you. Come on, let's head back to my place."

"What's at your place that would help us get out of these things?" asked Judy, looking slightly annoyed at Nick's unimpressive first option.

"Nothing, really." said Nick, shrugging.

"Then why the heck are we even going there in the first place?!" yelled Judy.

"I just need to pick up a few things. Then we're heading out."

Judy gave Nick a disbelieving look, which forced him to elaborate.

"Hey, believe it or not, I know a guy who might be able to help us. At least I hope." he said, quietly speaking that last sentence.

Unfortunately, Judy just happened to hear Nick saying it thanks to her amazing hearing. Rather than confront him on it, though, she decided that it was probably for the best to just play along and hope that this guy would be able to help them out so that she could finally head back to the station.

Exasperated, Judy sighed, resting her elbow on the passenger side door as she prepared for the long ride ahead. This, however, ended up pulling the chain again, and with Nick being forced to share the seat with her, his own arm ended up getting pulled towards her.

After glaring at Judy for a moment, Nick pulled his arm back, but this ended up pulling Judy off of the arm rest, which annoyed her so much that she pulled right back.

Eventually, it ended up devolving into a tug-of-war competition, and Finnick sighed.

"I'm taking care of a couple of babies. What has my life gotten to?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Are we almost there yet?"

"No, and I'll have you know I don't tolerate the 'are we there yet' routine. God knows I've worn out its welcome back when I was a kid." said Nick wistfully.

Judy didn't exactly believe what Nick was trying to say. Having 275 siblings to deal with every day taught her that even when they say those kinds of things, they never mean it. However, instead of calling Nick out on it, Judy just sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You know, Carrots, you're really ruining the mood around here. Why can't you just live a little?" asked Nick, annoyed by the awkward silence that pervaded through the van.

"Because, Mr. Wilde, I was supposed to be doing my important job, and you ended up pulling me away from it. I can't imagine what's happening to my cart right now!"

"Okay, first off, please don't call me Mr. Wilde. I hate that." said Nick, holding out a finger.

"Makes you sound older than you really are, huh?" said Judy, a smug grin on her face.

Judy's backhanded comment caused Nick to fume for a few moments, but thankfully he managed to calm himself down enough not to physically hurt the bunny officer. Sighing heavily, Nick continued on.

"Second, I don't think being a meter maid is what I'd call an 'important job'. By the way, I'm curious. How many people cursed you out while you were ticketing their vehicles?"

"No one did." said Judy, wondering where Nick was going with this.

"Oh, that'll change, my long-eared acquaintance. Just wait. This city is just waiting to take the wide-eyed optimism of people and spit on it. That's what I've learned."

Judy fell silent, taken aback by Nick's blunt assessment of Zootopia as a whole.

"You really think that?" she asked.

"Yup. One hundred percent."

"That's too bad."

Judy was noticeably subdued after that, remaining silent until Finnick suddenly spoke up.

"We're here."

"Where's here?"

"My apartment. We've been through this." said Nick, his tone betrayed by the smirk he had on his face.

"Hey, I remembered! I just didn't expect we'd be so far away from the center of the city." said Judy defiantly.

"Sure you did. Come on, let's go inside."

Judy huffed in annoyance, but she willingly followed Nick out of the car and into the building, Finnick following close behind.

* * *

When Judy, Nick and Finnick made it to Nick's apartment, which Judy noticed happened to be in the basement of the building they were in; they paused as Nick fished his keys out of his pocket.

Unfortunately, with his dominant hand cuffed to Judy, Nick ended up having to reach around with his other hand, which proved to be a little difficult, but thankfully he managed to get it out and stick it into the door, opening it up a few seconds later.

When Judy finally managed to get a look inside, she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the sight in front of her.

"Man, no offense, but this looks like a dump. I kind of figured you'd have a better place with the amount of money you said you'd made."

"Hey, it may be a dump, but it's a dump with character." said Nick, giving Judy a sly smile before leading her and Finnick inside.

"So, I've noticed that you've admitted yourself that this is a dump. Why do you still live here then?"

Nick opened his mouth, preparing to answer, only for Finnick to beat him to the punch.

"Let's just say the higher-class apartment buildings don't like foxes who are in the kind of work we are. Plus, Nick's smug attitude kind of turns off some people."

"Hey! I'm not that smug!" said Nick defensively.

"Oh, try me, Nick. I've known you for years and I've lost count of how many times you've cheesed off a landlord in one of those buildings we've tried to move to, not to mention the fact that they were all ladies."

"Alright Finnick, that's enough out of you." said Nick, attempting to cover Finnick's mouth before he outed more of Nick's private business.

However, Finnick wasn't amused and snapped at Nick's paw with his jaws. Luckily, Nick pulled it away just in time before Finnick bit him.

"Well, that was unnecessary." said Nick, feigning hurt as he checked his digit for any marks.

"Yeah, next time I'll bite your face off if you try that again." Finnick threatened before turning away from the two of them.

Nick stared at Finnick for a few seconds, wondering what was up with him before Judy cleared her throat, trying to get him back on track.

"Um, isn't there something you were looking for, Nick?"

Nick started, suddenly realizing that he'd zoned out.

"Oh, right. Follow me. I know just where it is."

Nick led Judy into another room, which felt more like a closet than anything considering its size, as he dug through what looked to Judy like a large pile of rubble. She couldn't help but look at the ceiling, wondering if she should be worried if the roof wasn't going to collapse on top of them, but thankfully it appeared to be in one piece.

"Sorry about the mess. I'm not really in this room that often, so I haven't had a chance to clean." said Nick.

"No kidding. I almost thought you'd been through this place with a wrecking ball with all of the rubble in there." Judy commented.

"Oh, that? The landlord offered to clean it up, but I decided since I wasn't going to use it anyway, there was no reason to do so. Plus, it knocked off some money out of my rent, so I'm not complaining."

"Wow. Never figured you'd be so frugal, Nick."

"Well, I try. Those pawpiscles can get pretty expensive sometimes."

Eventually, Nick managed to find whatever he was looking for, which came as a bit of a surprise to Judy considering she thought it would have taken longer with him only able to use one paw to dig.

However, Judy quickly noticed Nick stuffing the item into his shirt pocket before turning to face her, which intrigued her, as she wondered exactly why Nick would need to hide something like this.

"Come on, Carrots, let's go. The place we're going closes in an hour, and we've got a drive ahead of us."

"Hey, what was that thing you found?" asked Judy, catching Nick off guard for a moment before he quickly pulled himself together.

"It's nothing. Seriously, we need to go."

Judy at first considered continuing on with her questioning, as she was very much interested in finding out what Nick was hiding from her, but after an annoyed gesture from Nick pointing her towards the door, she reluctantly filed it away in her mind, choosing to confront him on it when they weren't on a schedule.

After Nick and Judy returned to the main room of Nick's apartment, they were met by Finnick, who looked exasperated as he noticed the two of them return.

"Finally! I was wondering what the two of you were doing in there."

"Hey, I would have just went in there myself if Carrots wasn't chained to me, Finnick. Don't go making any wild assumptions here." said Nick.

"Whatever you say. So, where are we going?"

Instead of just answering Finnick, Nick walked over and whispered the place into his ear, to which Finnick gave him a strange look.

"Really, Nick? There?"

"Yeah, there! I told you, I know a guy there that might be able to help us!"

"Whatever."

Sighing heavily, Finnick made his way out of the door, Judy and Nick following behind after stopping for a moment so Nick could lock his door.

* * *

The ride over to wherever Nick was taking the three of them was completely silent. Finnick was too busy driving to speak, while Nick and Judy were sitting there, awkwardly trying their best not to move their chained arms too much so that the other one doesn't get pulled with them.

Eventually, though, the silence began to get to Judy, and she really felt the need to say something.

"Man, it's getting kind of hot in here, isn't it?" she asked, tugging at her collar.

"No, I'm fine. It's not even that hot out, really." said Nick.

"You sure? You've got thicker fur than I do. I'd figure you'd be sweating like crazy under there."

Judy admittedly wasn't sure where she was going with this. While it was a relatively warm day inside the city, she soon realized it felt a whole lot worse inside the van.

"Well, that's why I always dress light. Maybe you should take some of that stuff off that you've got on."

This comment ended up earning Nick a glare from Judy, which forced him to immediately backtrack and explain himself.

"I don't mean that far! I mean…stuff like your vest and hat. Maybe that might help."

"Yeah, sure Nick. That'll help." said Finnick sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nick, you do realize that all I'll get by removing my vest is a bright orange rag hanging between us, right?" asked Judy, saying the first thing that came to her mind when trying to describe the vest hanging off of their chain.

Nick paused to think about some ways that they could possibly manage to get the vest off, but short of actually shoving his entire body through the sleeve, which was pretty much impossible considering his size, there was no way she was going to be able to remove it on her own.

As he turned towards Judy to mention that fact, though, an unidentified object suddenly flew past his eyes. Confused, he looked towards where it landed and found that it was in fact Judy's hat.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, giving Judy a side-long look.

"Well, no, but I just figured that since I might be here a while, it might be better just to leave it where it's safe."

Judy paused to gauge Nick's feelings about the matter, thinking that he would be alright with it, but the flat look the fox gave him forced Judy to elaborate.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave it there! Once we get these cuffs off, I'll take the hat back with me. Besides, the chief's gonna kill me if I lose any of this stuff."

"They don't have spares?" asked Nick, curious.

"For small animals like me? No, but then again, I am the first rabbit officer in the ZPD."

"Well, congratulations, Miss Flopsy the Copsy! Doesn't that just make you feel special?" said Finnick, annoyed.

"What's with him?" she whispered to Nick, not wanting to annoy him even further by talking about him behind his back.

"Don't worry about him. He's usually this way. Thankfully he stays silent during our cons for the most part. Otherwise I don't know what I'd do." he said, chuckling a bit.

Judy glanced over at Finnick, hoping that he hadn't heard Nick's backhanded comment, but the fennec fox appeared to be concentrating on the road, so it appeared that he hadn't heard anything.

Satisfied, Judy leaned back into the seat, quickly straightening her ears now that they were free from being under her hat.

"Don't get too comfortable, Carrots. I think we're almost there."

"You know, I really wish you would stop calling me that."

"Oh, come on. Carrots is just so easy to remember." he said, slipping his free paw behind his head as he leaned back in the seat as well.

Nick quickly noticed Judy pouting, no doubt annoyed that she couldn't convince him to stop calling her by that nickname.

"You know, you look so adorable when you're mad like that."

Judy remained silent, only acknowledging Nick's comment by rolling her eyes.

* * *

Eventually, the three animals found themselves in front of a place that Judy noticed was called the "Mystic Springs Oasis".

"An oasis? What's this got to do with getting us out of these cuffs?" she asked, holding up her end of the cuffs towards Nick.

"The guy I know comes in here a lot. He's pretty good at picking locks, so I think we shouldn't have much of a problem."

Judy waited a few seconds for a Nick to elaborate, but the fox remained silent, so Judy shrugged and prepared to head inside.

However, as she and Nick headed inside, she soon noticed Finnick remaining by the van.

"Hey Finnick, aren't you coming?"

"I'm not going anywhere near that place!" he said in a tone that surprised Judy.

"Really? Did something happen to you in there?" she asked, her investigatory instincts kicking in.

Finnick prepared to answer, but before he could, he noticed Nick subtly shaking his head behind Judy and clammed up.

"Oh, you'll find out. Anyway, I'm gonna be in the van if you need me."

Judy was admittedly unsure as to what Finnick meant by her finding out, but she figured that she was probably going to find out anyway once she went inside.

As Finnick made his way back to the van and hopped in, Nick and Judy went inside the building, the fox with a sly smile on his face as he knew exactly what was inside.

* * *

As Nick and Judy made their way up to the front desk, Judy noticed that there was a large yak manning the desk, a wild mane of hair around his head which was thick enough to the point that Judy was beginning to wonder if he could even see through all of it.

The more interesting thing that was happening, though, when she and Nick reached the desk was that the yak was actually meditating, which wasn't really that much of a big thing until she realized that he was doing it very loudly.

"Um…excuse me?"

The yak continued to meditate, having not heard Judy at all. He even started to "om" louder, which made Judy begin to believe that he was deliberately ignoring her.

"Excuse me!" she said, a little louder this time.

Judy watched, waiting for the yak to answer. She couldn't help but notice the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes, but she didn't really think too much about it, as she was too absorbed in trying to get the yak's attention.

"Hey!" she said, finally yelling.

"What? Oh, hi there!" said the yak, finally getting pulled out of his thoughts. "Sorry, but we've already ordered Bunny Scout cookies a few days ago."

"I'm not a Bunny Scout, sir. I'm a cop, but that's beside the point. My friend here says that there's a guy that spends time in here that knows a little something about lock picking. Do you know anything about this guy?" she asked, getting right down to business.

The yak stared at Judy in confusion for a few seconds, before his expression suddenly brightened, Judy's question finally registering in his mind.

"Oh! You're talking about Mr. Otterton, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yep. That's the guy." said Nick.

"Oh, okay, I get you. Unfortunately, he's not here right now. His yoga class just let out about ten minutes ago. I think I remember him mentioning where he was going next to his teacher, though. Do you want to go ask her?"

"Yes, please!" said Judy, trying to be polite.

"Name's Yax, by the way. I'm not really a big fan of people calling me sir. Kind of goes against my beliefs." said the yak as he led Nick and Judy towards a double set of doors.

"Okay…" said Judy, confused. "What kind of beliefs are we talking about here? Buddhist? Zionist?"

"Nope. I'm a naturalist!"

Yax then quickly threw open the doors, and Judy's hand immediately went to shield her eyes when she saw what was in front of her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh cheese and crackers, they're naked!"

Judy was desperately trying to cover her eyes as what was happening around her finally registered in her mind.

There were tons of animals inside the complex, but the one thing Judy noticed about them was that no one was wearing a single article of clothing.

"Of course we're naked! We're animals!" said Yax, spreading his arms wide.

"But animals wear clothes! I mean…don't you see us two? Wearing clothes?" asked Judy, gesturing towards herself and Nick as she spoke.

"Well sure, but we believe in embracing our primal side here at the Oasis, and wearing clothes goes against actually doing so, at least in our opinions."

Judy sighed, realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere trying to convince Yax.

"So…can we go see that teacher now? I really want to get out of here." she said, the last sentence coming way quicker than she would usually speak.

"Oh, sure! Follow me! You're gonna love her. She's got a mind like a steel trap. I'm positive she's gonna remember where Otterton went off to."

Nick and Judy began following behind Yax as he led them to the yoga teacher. As they walked, Judy looked towards Nick, silently fuming as she noticed the smug look on the fox's face.

"Why didn't you tell me everyone would be naked here?"

"What, and ruin the fun I'm having? Seeing the look on your face makes this day so much better for me." said Nick, smiling.

This comment ended up earning Nick a punch in the arm from Judy, the fox wincing when he realized just how hard Judy actually punched.

"Ow! For a bunny, you hit really hard!" he said, rubbing at the affected area with his free paw.

"Well, that's what a year of training at the Zootopia Police Academy can do for someone like me." said Judy, a smug look of her own on her face.

Nick rolled his eyes before returning his focus to what was in front of him. As for Judy, she couldn't help but notice a panther on a bench, cleaning one of his hind legs with his tongue. Suppressing an involuntary shiver, Judy pulled her eyes away from the panther just as the three of them reached their destination.

"Ah, there you are, Nangi! I was wondering where I'd find you!" said Yax.

"What do you want? I'm busy." said a large elephant, who Judy assumed must be Nangi.

"Oh, I've got some friends here with me who are looking for Emmett Otterton."

"Who are you talking about?" asked the elephant as she performed different yoga poses, barely paying any attention to the conversation.

"You know…Emmett Otterton. He takes your yoga classes a lot. Very flexible for an otter."

"Doesn't ring a bell." said Nangi, standing up and stretching her torso between her legs, giving Judy a full-on look at her butt.

Judy predictably recoiled from the sight, shielding her eyes in a desperate attempt to maintain her dignity while Nick maintained his sly smile in the background.

"Well, either way, I heard him mention after one of your classes that he was heading somewhere."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." said Nangi flatly, adopting the lotus position as she spoke.

"You sure? I remember him mentioning that he was going back to his floral shop over on Third and Main. He owns that place. Didn't you know?"

"No, I didn't."

As Yax and Nangi continued to trade words, Judy couldn't help but stare in confusion, flicking her eyes between the two of them as she had no idea what to make of this situation. However, when she heard Yax mention the place where Mr. Otterton was going and its address (which caught her off guard considering she was expecting the elephant to know), she quickly pulled a notepad out of her breast pocket and noted the relevant information using her carrot pen.

"Hey, thanks you guys. I think we've got all of the information we need. We'd better get going." said Judy quickly, stuffing the carrot pen and notepad in her pocket once more as she spoke.

"Oh! Okay. See, I told you she's got a mind like a steel trap. Glad to be of service!"

Nangi simply rolled her eyes while Yax waved goodbye as Judy quickly made her way out of the courtyard, dragging Nick along with her in her desperate escape.

* * *

Once Nick and Judy made their way through the door and shut it behind them, Judy almost collapsed in relief.

"Oh god, I am so glad to be out of there!"

"Come on Carrots, it wasn't so bad." said Nick nonchalantly.

Judy immediately gave Nick the darkest glare she could muster, but this didn't faze Nick in the slightest, considering he was used to that kind of thing.

"Wasn't so bad? You have no idea just how uncomfortable I was in there, Nick."

"Well, now you're out of there, and you never have to go back. Doesn't that make things better?"

Judy fumed for a few moments, ready to give Nick a piece of her mind, but she soon realized that he did have a point. Unless her police work brought her to this place again (which she found very unlikely considering most animals who weren't already spending time there wouldn't be caught dead there), there was no reason for her to actually go near this place.

"You know, you're right. For once."

"It's too bad, though. I was almost getting to like that yak." said Nick wistfully as he reflected a bit.

"Come on, you sap. Let's get back to the van before your friend leaves us behind."

"Wait, did you find out where we were supposed to go? I kind of zoned out after their conversation was starting to go nowhere." said Nick.

"Yeah, I made a note." said Judy, patting the pocket where she kept the notepad.

"Great! Hopefully Otterton will actually be there this time."

Nick and Judy quickly made their way over to the van, which thankfully was still there and hopped into the passenger seat, closing the door behind them.

"Finally! What took you so long?" asked Finnick, a surly look on his face.

"Otterton wasn't there. We had to ask the locals where he went." said Nick.

Satisfied with the answer, Finnick turned the key to start the van again, but before he pulled out of his parking space, he quickly turned towards Nick, a noticeably brighter expression on his face.

"Hey Nick, how did Whiskers over there take the surprise?"

"Just like you'd expect."

This caused Finnick a great deal of joy, as he couldn't resist laughing as hard as he could.

"Oh man, I love messing with people sometimes." he said between bouts of the giggles.

As Finnick's bout of laughter continued on, Judy was forced to sit there, fuming. She really wanted nothing more than to throttle the both of them, but she couldn't actually do so.

For one thing, she couldn't actually reach Finnick from where she was sitting considering she had Nick to go through. And even then, she'd probably just end up getting even more in trouble with Chief Bogo than she already might be after swiping the handcuffs.

Eventually, Finnick's guffaws subsided, and Judy sighed, finally glad that the fennec fox was able to shut up.

"Can we go now? I've got the address right here."

"Alright, alright. Keep your tail on."

Judy passed the page she had the address written on to Nick, who handed it over to Finnick as the small fox scanned through the notes.

"Flower shop on Third and Main. I haven't been over that way in a while, but it shouldn't be too hard to find."

Judy couldn't help but be a little nervous at the fact that Finnick wasn't completely sure about where he was going, but unfortunately she couldn't really do anything about it considering this was only her second day in Zootopia and she was still learning the roads.

So, as much as she was reluctant to do so, she chose to trust Finnick and hope that he could get them there in a timely manner.

* * *

"I think we're going around in circles!"

Judy was beginning to regret placing her trust in Finnick, as she began to notice that they were passing by a large building multiple times over the last fifteen minutes.

Now, to be fair, most of the buildings in Savannah Central were pretty large, but the one Judy noticed them passing by tended to pop out a little more than the others, mostly because of the large neon sign poking out from the canopy above the door which most anybody would see within a mile radius.

"Shut up, cottontail! I've got it covered!"

"Seriously, Finnick. I think we really should be asking for directions." said Nick, surprisingly beginning to agree with Judy.

"I've told you. I've…got…it…handled." said Finnick, trying his best not to fly off the handle.

Unfortunately, keeping his cool proved to be a bit of a challenge, as both Nick and Judy were trying their best to convince him to stop and ask for directions. Finnick, however, being the man that he was, refused to do so, considering he was essentially riding his entire knowledge of the city on finding where they were going.

Almost as if by sheer luck, though, Judy's sensitive ears managed to pick up the sound of a bell ringing thanks to the windows being down.

"Wait! I think I heard something!"

"How? I can barely hear anything going on outside thanks to the stupid engine!" said Finnick, giving the general area where the engine was a death glare.

"Never mind how, just stop the van!"

Finnick still wanted to find out exactly what she managed to hear over the noise of the city, but he reluctantly obliged with Judy's order, pulling the van over next to the sidewalk and parking it.

"So? What kind of wild goose chase are we being led on now?" he asked, annoyed.

Instead of answering, Judy shushed him, which struck a nerve with the fennec fox, but thankfully Nick managed to put himself in between the two of them before Finnick could do what he threatened Nick with to Judy.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Lead the way, Carrots." said Nick after making sure that Finnick wasn't trying to sneak by him to get to Judy.

As the three of them hopped out of the van and began walking along the sidewalk, Finnick turned towards Nick, who was busy being led by Judy.

"You know, I think I deserve sixty-forty for putting up with her."

Nick sighed, rolling his eyes.

"She's not going to be here for much longer. I think fifty-fifty's still fine."

Finnick grunted in annoyance, but thankfully he remained silent.

"Wait, there it is!"

Both Nick and Finnick turned to where Judy was looking to find that they were standing in front of the exact flower shop that they were looking for.

"Wow. That was convenient." commented Nick.

"Yes! I told you that I can find my way here just fine on my own!" said Finnick.

"Yeah, I don't think that counts. We only found the right road by sheer coincidence, partly thanks to Carrots here." said Nick, bursting Finnick's bubble before he could begin to rub it in Nick's face.

Once again, Finnick grumbled in annoyance, but this time he actually did remain silent as the three of them stepped in to the flower shop.

* * *

As the three animals made their way inside, Judy managed to get a look around and see what kind of place this was.

"Wow, this place is gorgeous!" she said breathlessly.

The store was filled to the brim with all kinds of flowers in bouquets, pots, and tons of other containers. As for the flowers themselves, they were in all kinds of different colors, which not only brought a lot of color to the store, but it also reminded Judy of being back home in Bunnyburrow.

Finnick, meanwhile, noticed the wistful look that Judy had on her face, and he opened his mouth to make a snide comment. However, before he could do so, he caught Nick's expression out of the corner of his eye and noticed that the larger fox was shaking his head.

"Just let her have this, alright? She deserves it for what she's been through today."

Finnick stared at Nick for a few seconds after he finished speaking, giving him a weird look.

"Man, I hope you're not getting soft on me."

"Don't worry, I'm not." said Nick, slightly exasperated.

Finnick emitted a slightly dismissive noise, showing that he didn't completely believe Nick, but thankfully he dropped the subject right there as the three of them were standing right at the front counter just as the customer in front of them finished purchasing their flowers.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" asked the clerk, a female otter wearing a purple wool jacket with small clam patterns on it.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we're not actually here for flowers." said Nick, taking charge of the conversation.

"Well then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We don't allow loitering inside this store."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we won't take up much of your time." said Judy, stepping forwards before Nick could continue on.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, officer! Are you taking this man back to the police station?" asked the otter, having noticed the chain trailing between her and Nick.

Judy glanced at Nick, unsure of how she should answer that question, but after a reluctant nod from the fox, Judy took it as a sign that he would be alright with whatever she said.

"Actually, yes I am. I do have one thing that I need to do before I take him in."

"And what's that?"

"I'm looking for an Emmett Otterton. I was told that he owned this place."

"I'm his wife. Is Emmett in trouble?"

"Oh, no, Mrs. Otterton. Your husband…has some important information that will help us with another case. We would appreciate it if you would tell us if he's here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I really wish I could help you out, but Emmett's not here right now."

"He's not?" asked Nick, confused.

"No, he stepped out about ten minutes ago."

Both Nick and Judy glared at Finnick, knowing that he was the reason they missed seeing Mr. Otterton, but the fennec fox remained unfazed.

"Did he say where he was going?" asked Judy.

"No, I'm afraid not. It's very strange, though. It's not like Emmett to not mention where he was going."

Judy sighed, realizing that they weren't getting anywhere with trying to find a way out of the cuffs.

"Thank you for all of the help, Mrs. Otterton." she said, trying her best to remain courteous despite how aggravated she was right now.

"You're quite welcome. Oh, and if you do happen to run into Emmett, please tell him that his wife is worried about him. I'm sure he'll understand."

"We will. Have a good evening, Mrs. Otterton." said Judy.

As Mrs. Otterton waved goodbye, Judy took the lead again as she lead Nick and Finnick outside once more, both Nick and Judy hoping that the trail hasn't gone cold.


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh, by the way, starting from now, this story as well as Mistakes and Regrets are going to be simultaneously posted on both here and on AO3, so if you guys are interested in checking out that version, feel free.**

* * *

"Now what do we do?"

Judy looked over at Nick, who was the one who spoke, about ready to say something before she realized that she didn't really have any idea either.

"I don't know. We've pretty much run into a brick wall here."

"Well, we've got to do something! All we have to do is find out how Otterton left the shop, and we'll go from there!"

Judy stared at Nick, a slightly confused look on her face.

"How? He's already twenty minutes ahead of us, and even if we did get here earlier, we'd have no way of finding out."

Exasperated, Nick clutched at his head with his free hand, staring at the sky for a few moments before returning his focus back to the ground. Once he did so, though, his uncovered eye caught sight of one of the light posts nearby, a security camera hanging on top of it.

"You know, those cameras really creep me out. I can't imagine what possessed Lionheart to have these put up around town." he commented, giving the camera he was looking at the evil eye.

Instead of following where Nick was going, though, the fox noticed Judy looking suddenly inquisitive as she tried to put together what she just heard.

"Cameras…wait, that's it!"

"What's it?" asked Nick, having his turn to be confused.

"There's a camera right by the flower shop. All we have to do is tap into the recording and find out where Mr. Otterton was going, and we can go from there!"

"Great! We're finally back on track!" said Nick, finally smiling again.

"But there's one teensy little problem." said Judy, an awkward expression on her face.

"What problem? Can't you just go back to the station and tap in from there?"

"I would, but I'm not actually in the system yet. I can't actually access the security tapes without authorization."

Judy's confession forced Nick to immediately facepalm, his paw sliding down and off of his snout before his paw returned to his side, a half-lidded expression on his face.

"Don't worry, I have an idea about how to get past that little roadblock." said Judy.

"Oh, do tell."

"Well…"

* * *

"I don't know how you keep roping me into these wild plans, Carrots, but you really need to stop."

To Nick's surprise, he and Judy found themselves right outside the Zootopia Police Department Precinct One, standing just off to the side of the staircase leading towards the door inside.

The fact that they were there wasn't what Nick had a problem with, though. What he had a problem with was that he had on a ridiculous looking disguise, which consisted of a pair of sunglasses and a fake handlebar moustache that was so cheaply made it was starting to irritate Nick with the hair constantly getting into his mouth.

"Just don't say a word and you'll be fine. Besides, I think you could use some quiet time."

"Not funny, Carrots. I can pull a better disguise than this. Just look at what I did with Finnick." said Nick, spitting out another mouthful of hair after he was done speaking.

"Well, your friend wanted nothing to do with this, so he decided to stay in the van. Looks like you're stuck with me, sweetheart."

"Did you forget the handcuffs, 'sweetheart'? We've been stuck together since this afternoon. I'm used to it."

Judy was unfortunately unable to come up with a comeback to Nick's smug reminder, so she simply resorted to sticking her tongue out at him, which caused Nick to chuckle before having to spit out another mouthful of hair.

"This stupid moustache is driving me crazy, but I'd say it was worth it in the end to get one over on you."

"Ugh, let's go." said Judy, annoyed.

Judy was about to lead Nick up to the doors, but before she could go anywhere, her eyes caught Nick miming a mic drop motion, and she knew that she couldn't let that go.

"Oh my god, you are the worst! I should just take you in right now."

"Oh, I know you won't."

"And why's that? You can't exactly escape from me, you know."

"Well, for one thing, taking me in would also lead to some unwanted question from your friend Chief Bogo which, judging by the way you've been acting since we've been stuck together, you don't want any part of."

Judy paused, realizing that Nick did have a point and her threat was completely shot. However, Nick wasn't done yet.

"Also, you know you love me. My endearing charm is just too much for someone like you, Carrots."

This comment, rather than throw Judy's empty threat in her face, earned Nick a hard punch in the shoulder, the implications setting Judy off.

"Ow! Okay, I'll stop! Just leave me alone for once." he said, shielding himself as Judy held up her fist.

Satisfied, Judy lowered her fist and prepared to lead Nick up to the door like she planned, but before she could do so, the two of them were suddenly interrupted by a voice coming from above them.

"Officer Hopps?"

Caught off guard, it took Judy a few seconds to find out where she was being called from, but she soon looked up at the top of the stairs, surprised to find just who was speaking with her.

"Assistant Mayor Bellwether! This is a surprise."

As Bellwether quickly made her way down the stairs, Judy quickly moved next to Nick, hiding the handcuffs from Bellwether's view.

"Oh, Mayor Lionheart just sent me over here to check up on the progress of some of the higher profile cases. The council's breathing down his neck right now, but he's way too busy to do it himself, so he sent me!" she said, seeming a little too cheerful for doing someone else's leg work.

"I guess Chief Bogo wasn't too thrilled about the intrusion, huh?" asked Judy, trying to strike up a conversation and drive Bellwether's attention away from her and Nick's hidden paws.

"Actually, Chief Bogo wouldn't even speak to me. I had to get all of the info from that nice cheetah at the front desk. To be honest, I can't imagine what's got Bogo so peeved."

"I can." Judy thought, her mind going to horrible places as she thought about what Bogo would do if he had found out about the missing handcuffs.

"So, who's your friend?" asked Bellwether, looking up at Nick.

"Oh, he's just an acquaintance. He, uh…wanted to see what life was like at the ZPD. I was about to show him the security camera system, but then I remembered that I'm not even in the system yet." she said, nervously chuckling. "Stupid me."

Bellwether stared at Judy for a few seconds, confused as she noticed the overdone smile on her face. Thankfully, though, she decided to move on from the subject.

"That's too bad. I could always show you the security camera system we have at City Hall. It's not exactly ZPD quality, but I think he'll get the idea."

"Really? You would?" asked Judy, her expression brightening.

"Sure! Us prey mammals have to work together sometimes!"

"Wow! Thank you so much for the help, Assistant Mayor Bellwether!"

"Please, just call me Miss Bellwether. It rolls off of the tongue better than my full title."

"Okay then…Miss Bellwether. Please, lead the way."

Bellwether nodded and began heading off towards City Hall, Judy and Nick following close behind. While they were walking, though, Judy turned towards Nick, her voice a harsh whisper as she tried her best to get her instructions across without Bellwether hearing.

"Stay close to me. I don't want Bellwether seeing the handcuffs."

"Whatever you say, Carrots."

Judy didn't really like the nonchalant look that Nick had on his face, but there wasn't really anything she could do to change it considering how close Bellwether was to the two of them.

So, she simply decided to grin and bear it, glancing at Nick every so often to make sure he wasn't going to do anything to blow their cover as they continued to walk to City Hall.

* * *

Eventually, Judy and Nick found themselves inside Bellwether's office, which was more like a closet considering how full to bursting it was with filing cabinets and other assorted office work.

Nick was about to make a snide comment about that fact, but Judy managed to silence him with a glare as Bellwether went to work pulling up the security system.

However, this took a little longer than really expected, so this gave Nick a chance to look around and see what was going on inside the office.

His interest was soon piqued when his eyes landed on Bellwether herself, or more specifically the large tuft of wool on top of her head. Unable to resist, Nick reached out with his paw and lightly touched it, realizing just how soft it is.

"Oh, that is so fluffy!" whispered Nick, smiling as he kneaded the wool with his claws, enjoying the soft texture.

"Nick, stop! You don't touch a sheep's wool!" Judy whispered back, reaching out and trying to push Nick's paw away from Bellwether.

"Carrots, you have got to feel this!"

"No!"

Before the quiet argument could go any further, Bellwether's head popped up from where it was fixated on the computer screen and looked towards Nick and Judy just as Nick pulled his paw away and hid it behind his back.

"Alright, are there any cameras you wanted to see?"

"How about Third and Main in Savannah Central?" asked Judy.

"That's specific. Any reason why?"

"No, not really. I've just heard about this nice flower shop there."

Bellwether was admittedly intrigued with Judy's reasoning, but she went ahead and pulled up the camera in question, just when the speaker on her phone went off.

"Hey Smellwether! Where are those reports?"

Judy immediately recognized the voice of Mayor Lionheart over the speaker, just as Bellwether freaked out and hopped down from her chair, grabbing a stack of folders nearby.

"I'm sorry to have to leave you guys, but the mayor really wants these reports! Feel free to take a look around on the system if you want. I'll be back in a bit!"

Bellwether quickly rushed out of the room, the stack of papers dangerously close to toppling before the door shut behind her.

"Smellwether?" asked Nick, unable to resist a sly smile at the nickname.

"Shut up." said Judy, lightly nudging Nick with her arm despite a smile curling at her lips.

Judy and Nick fell silent as the two of them combed through the camera's footage, even switching towards some nearby cameras to get another viewpoint. While it was a bit challenging, considering Judy could only use one of her hands, they did eventually catch sight of Mr. Otterton leaving the flower shop.

As they watched Otterton walk down the street, though, Judy couldn't help but notice something strange going on soon after.

"What's he doing getting into that car?"

Nick, who was only half paying attention, immediately moved closer to the screen just as the car containing Otterton pulled away.

"That's odd. Try and see if you can follow him. Maybe we might get a better idea of where he was going."

Judy began clicking through the camera feeds, following the car is it wove through the city streets and out into somewhere she didn't expect.

"Tundra Town? What kind of business would he need all the way out there?" she said to herself.

She looked over at Nick, expecting him to know the answer, but he simply shrugged.

"Are you sure you know Otterton, Nick? The way things are going, I'm beginning to think you're not speaking the whole truth here." she said, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm hurt, Carrots. You can't find it in your heart to believe little ol' me?" he said, adopting a sad expression on his face.

"Nope. When you're forced to spend more time than you'd like with someone like you, you tend to learn a few things, like when someone is hiding something."

Nick held his expression for a few more moments, hoping that Judy would change her mind, but the rabbit's flat expression told him to give it up.

"Alright, I don't exactly know Otterton personally. He's one of those figures that everyone in the underbelly of this city knows of, but only goes to when they really need something done."

Judy's eyes widened in surprise, as she was not expecting this kind of characterization for him.

"Wow, that's something I didn't expect to learn about today. I kind of figured he'd be one of those sweet little characters, considering how his wife acts."

"Well, there are a lot of things you don't expect to hear about in this city, whiskers."

Judy ignored the different nickname, choosing instead to focus on following the car around on the cameras.

Unfortunately, they were so distracted with their conversation, they ended up completely losing track of the car, which Judy noticed immediately.

"Awww, we lost it! Why'd you have to distract me?"

"Hey, don't blame me, Carrots. You were the one giving me the third degree here."

"I barely even touched you! You can't accuse me of the third degree!" said Judy indignantly.

Nick was slightly taken aback by Judy's tone, before he realized that she probably had a better knowledge of police protocol than he did.

"Okay then, explain to me what 'third degree' means, if you would please." he said, a little bit of condescension slipping through despite trying to avoid that.

"Honestly, I wish I didn't know this, but the third degree means using torture to get information." said Judy, looking strained as she spoke.

This caused Nick to fall silent for a moment, realizing that he was using that phrase wrong the whole time.

"Wow…sorry, Carrots. I didn't think it was that bad."

"It's fine."

The two of them looked away from each other for a few moments before looking back at each other, silently agreeing to never speak of what happened between them.

Turning back towards the screen, Judy quickly rewound the footage until they finally spotted the car again. However, before she could hit play again so that they could start following the car, Nick lightly elbowed her in the side.

"What?"

"Make a note of the license plate. I think we could use it."

Judy paused, about ready to argue when she realized that Nick did have a point. Pulling out her pen and notepad, Judy squinted, somehow managing to make out the letters and numbers on the plate despite how blurry the screen was.

"Got it. I'm surprised, Nick."

"How so?" he asked, giving her another one of his sly smiles.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect you to come up with something that I would normally be doing. You ever consider becoming a cop?"

"Nah. I like where I'm at right now. Besides, I'm not a morning person."

Judy shrugged, figuring it wouldn't have hurt to ask, but what she didn't know was that Nick had actually briefly considered taking her up on that offer before finally refusing.

Judy was just about to hit play on the camera feed again when the door to the office burst open, and Bellwether came in, looking harried.

"Oh, you're still here! I'm sorry, I'd love to let you guys stick around, but Mayor Lionheart has been on me about visitors recently."

"Oh no, it's fine! I think we've got all we need, really." said Judy, quickly hiding the handcuffs behind her back again just in time.

"Really? That's great! I'm so glad to help."

"Now, if you'll excuse us, I have to go take my friend here back to the station. Chief Bogo doesn't like a lot of visitors seeing important business." said Judy, her last words coming out in a harsh whisper.

"Oh, I understand. Have a good one, Officer Hopps! Oh, and welcome to Zootopia, sir!"

Judy and Nick made their way out of the office as Bellwether waved goodbye to the two of them, Judy positioning herself so that Bellwether didn't see the cuffs.

* * *

Eventually, both Judy and Nick managed to make their way out of City Hall without any questions being asked, and they made their way over to the van, which thankfully wasn't too far of a walk considering the precinct wasn't that far from City Hall.

"Where in the heck have you two been? I've been waiting here for an hour!" said Finnick as they hopped into the van, an expression on his face that looked like he was about ready to maul someone.

Nick quickly ripped the fake moustache off of his muzzle, glad to finally get rid of that wretched thing despite the sharp pain he felt from the removal process.

"Never mind that. We got what we needed. Let's just head over to the DMV."

"Oh for the love of…am I just your chauffer now?" yelled Finnick.

Nick sighed, pressing his thumb and forefinger to his eyes.

"Look, I'll give you another five percent of the cut if you'll chill out about driving us everywhere. Believe me, we're just as annoyed about this wild goose chase as you are."

"Make it ten, and we've got a deal." said Finnick after a moment of consideration.

"Fine. You are such a con artist."

"Hey, I only learn from the best." said Finnick, chuckling.

As Finnick pulled the van out of his parking spot, Judy turned towards Nick.

"So…why are we going to the DMV?"

Nick paused, careful to choose his words before speaking.

"I know a guy there who can help us run the plate on Otterton's car."

"And he's at the DMV?" asked Judy, unimpressed.

"Oh yeah! He's the fastest guy I've ever known. We'll be in and out in a flash!"

Judy couldn't help but be skeptical considering the last time Nick mentioned knowing a guy ended up with them on this wild goose chase, but with no other options, she decided it was best just to follow along with what he had in mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually, Judy, Nick, and Finnick found themselves outside of the DMV, or Department of Mammal Vehicles, sitting in the van as they stared at the front door to the building.

"Well? Aren't you going to go in? I'm burning gas here!" asked Finnick, wondering why Nick and Judy weren't moving.

Admittedly, Nick was a little lost in thought when they pulled up, but Finnick's words brought him back to consciousness.

"Come on, Carrots. Let's head in." he said, nudging Judy with his elbow.

This earned Nick an flat look from Judy, but thankfully it didn't go any further than that, as she pushed the passenger door open and hopped out, Nick following right behind her after stumbling a few seconds from the handcuffs being pulled.

As Nick shut the door behind him and the two of them began walking towards the DMV, Judy couldn't help but turn towards the con artist, wanting to make one thing clear.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Nick. I'm really not going to be happy if I don't get anything out of coming all the way out here."

"Oh, believe me, Carrots, you're not going to be disappointed. I promise you that." said Nick confidently.

"I hope so. I was supposed to be back at the precinct three hours ago."

"Why? Does your chief have a curfew or something?"

"No, but I do have some paperwork to deal with. I've got two hundred tickets to log into the system, believe it or not." said Judy, a twinge of worry in her expression.

"I don't believe it." said Nick flatly.

Judy was slightly caught off guard by Nick's refusal to believe that she actually did that kind of work, but before she could open her mouth to try and convince him, the two of them were already inside the building, and Judy's mouth fell open when she saw just who was staffing the building.

"The building's run by sloths?!"

Nick smiled as Judy registered what was going on around her. Behind each of the desks were sloths, doing what you'd expect to see at a normal office building, like stamping papers, stapling papers together, among other things. The only problem, though, was that the sloths doing said jobs were painfully slow.

Judy watched a female pig nervously smile as the sloth running the photo station slowly moved their finger towards the button in their hand for a few seconds before turning towards Nick.

"Nick, I thought you said this was going to be fast!" she said in a harsh whisper.

"Oh, so just because they're sloths doesn't mean they can't be fast, huh? I can't believe you'd say that, Carrots." said Nick, a mock expression of hurt on his face.

Judy groaned in protest, but as much as she wanted to just leave, this was the only option for her to get the plate number run, so reluctantly she followed Nick as they walked towards a sloth in the middle of the room, the LED board under him signaling that his line was closed.

"Hey, are you sure we should use this line? It says he's closed." Judy whispered.

"Don't worry about it. We're fine!"

Nick then turned towards the sloth, a smile on his face as he spread his arms wide.

"Flash, Flash, hundred yard dash! How's it going, buddy?"

"I'm…doing…fine…today. How…are…you…"

"I'm doing f-"

"Nick?"

Nick paused, slightly put off from getting cut off. Before he could continue on, though, Judy interrupted, taking command of the conversation.

"Hi there, Judy Hopps, ZPD. Nick and I are looking to get a license plate number run, and I was told that you guys would be willing to help out."

"All…right…tell…me…the…license…plate…"

"It's 29-"

"number."

Judy was admittedly annoyed at getting cut off herself, but she remained calm, reciting the license plate off.

"The license plate number is 29THD03."

Judy watched as Flash went to type in the number, but she began to get apprehensive when she realized just how slow his claw was in getting to the first button.

"Two."

Judy could begin to feel a groan coming as the movement of Flash's claws continued to drag along as he made his way to the second button.

"Nine."

"THD03." said Judy, feeling the need to remind him.

"T."

"HD03!"

"H."

The groan finally came as Judy was about ready to bang her head into the desk, but she remained as collected as she could.

"D03."

"D."

Judy remained silent, waiting anxiously for Flash to get the last two numbers typed in, but she failed to notice the grin that was forming on Nick's face when Flash typed in the zero.

"Hey Flash, wanna hear a joke?"

"No, don't-"said Judy, trying desperately to stop Nick, but it was too late, as Flash already had his attention pulled away from the screen in front of him.

"What…kind…of…joke?" he asked.

Nick paused, glancing over at Judy for a moment before launching into his joke, his hand movements becoming much more animated.

"What do you call a three-humped camel?"

Excited, Nick looked at both Flash and Judy, the latter looking like she was about ready to kill him, before finally blurting out the punchline.

"Pregnant!"

Judy was too incensed to laugh at Nick's joke, resisting the urge to wrap her paws around his throat and throttle the poor fox.

As for Flash, though, it didn't seem like he got the joke at first, but ever so slowly, his eyes and mouth widened as the punchline finally registered.

"Ha!...Ha!...Ha!"

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, can you please-"started Judy, hoping to pull the conversation back to the license plate, but Flash wasn't even looking at her. Instead, the sloth was looking at his nearby coworker.

"Hey…Priscilla!"

"Yes…Flash?" said Priscilla, slowly turning towards Flash.

"What…do…you…call…"

"A three-humped camel? Pregnant! Ha! Isn't it funny?" said Judy, desperately wanting to get the conversation over with, considering it's already taken double the time she thought it would.

Unfortunately, both Flash and Priscilla continued on with their conversation like nothing had ever happened, and Judy, beyond exasperated, started banging her head into the desk, wanting nothing more than to experience the sweet embrace of death.

"You doing alright there, Carrots?" asked Nick, a playful tone in his voice.

Unluckily for Nick, Judy quite easily noticed his tone, and showed her appreciation by holding up her free hand, a finger in the air in the universal sign that she needed a moment.

"Not…another…word, Wilde. We'll speak about this once we get outside."

Judy accentuated her threat with one of the darkest glares she could muster, which made Nick a little nervous, but thankfully before the conversation could go any further, Flash turned back to his station and slowly typed in the final number, printing out the results and slowly tearing the paper off of the printer.

Having already waited way too long for her liking, Judy immediately snatched the paper out of Flash's claws, dragging Nick out of the building before anything else could go wrong. However, what she saw when she actually went outside completely threw her hope of nothing else going wrong out the window.

* * *

"It's night?!"

Judy stared in shock as the sky was indeed dark, the street lights illuminated as the parking lot was empty outside of their van.

"Looks like it is. Guess Flash wasn't exactly as fast as I thought." said Nick nonchalantly.

Nick looked over at Judy, only to be surprised when she saw her fuming. While he admittedly expected the way she was acting, what with the veiled threat, Nick didn't think that it would be this bad.

Unfortunately for the con fox, it got worse very quickly, as Judy immediately jumped on to Nick with a loud scream.

Nick tried his hardest to defend himself, not expecting Judy to physically attack him.

"Hey Carrots, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, okay? Please stop trying to bite me!"

Judy completely ignored Nick's pleas, but before the throttling could go any further, the two of them were interrupted by a loud, deep voice coming from off to the side.

"Hey! Break it up, now!"

Judy ignored the other voice, still trying to get around Nick's guard so she could find some other place to claw, but she was immediately pulled off of Nick by Finnick, the fennec fox showing some surprising strength as he held Judy back.

"Let me at him! I don't care if I'm going to get in trouble for this!" yelled Judy.

"Hey, it was just a harmless joke, okay? I didn't mean to let it get this far!" said Nick, keeping as much distance as he could from Judy.

"I don't care!"

Finnick, exasperated, wasn't in the mood to try and talk her down from her raging state, so he did the only thing he could think of. Turning Judy around to face him, Finnick reeled his hand back and slapped her in the face.

This somehow managed to bring Judy out of her stupor, as Finnick had somehow by sheer luck chose the cheek that Gideon Grey had scratched when she was nine, and the throbbing helped bring her back to her senses.

"There. Are we better now?" asked Finnick.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I don't want Finnick to let you go just so you can jump me again." said Nick, looking apprehensive as he spoke.

"I'm good, Nick. I just needed some time to vent. It's been a really long and hard day."

Reluctantly, Nick nodded, and Finnick released Judy from his grip. At first, it looked like everything was going to be alright. Suddenly, though, Judy yelled once more. This time, instead of actually jumping on Nick, she only pretended to jump.

Nick predictably flinched, his hand flying up to protect his face.

"Got ya, Nick." said Judy, smiling as she giggled.

After realizing he was tricked, Nick was admittedly a little miffed, but he soon changed his mind, thinking that he deserved it for what he pulled inside.

"Okay, okay…I guess that makes us even. Alright?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Judy was admittedly a little caught off guard by Nick's gesture, but she willingly shook the fox's hand, sealing the deal.

"Awesome. What do you say we go find where that address leads to?"

With what she was going through not too long ago, Judy had completely forgotten about the fact that they now had an address for the plate they got, but thankfully she still had the paper in her pocket.

Pulling it out, she scanned the address listed on the paper before handing it off to Finnick.

"You think you can get us over there?" she asked as Finnick read the paper.

Instead of answering, Finnick simply glared at Judy before heading off to the van.

"Hey, what did that address point to, anyway? I'm curious." said Nick as he walked up next to Judy.

"Some limo company out of Tundratown. It's kind of surprising, to be honest."

"Why? You didn't expect a florist to be riding around in a limo?"

"Pretty much, although now that I've heard what you've said about Otterton, I'm beginning to see things differently with him."

"Are you two coming?" asked Finnick, interrupting the conversation, as he was not looking forwards to driving around so late at night.

Both Nick and Judy traded looks before joining Finnick inside the van as the three of them pulled out of the lot.

* * *

With it being nighttime, the trip to the Tundratown Limo Service took way less time than what it would have taken them to do normally thanks to the lack of cars out on the streets.

Unfortunately, the bad thing about it being nighttime was that the limo service was closed, as Judy, Nick and Finnick were met with a padlocked gate standing in their way.

"Well, it looks like we're out of luck here. Guess we've got to come back tomorrow when the place is open." said Nick.

"If only I had a warrant…" Judy said, lost in thought.

"A warrant? Hah! I'd love to see the excuse you'd try to get a warrant to get into this place." said Finnick.

Judy ignored the jibe from Finnick, because as she absentmindedly brushed her paw against her side, she felt the telltale carrot shape of her pen, and she suddenly got an idea.

"Hey Nick, do you remember this?" she asked as she held out the carrot pen.

"Yeah, I do. What's your point?" he asked flatly.

"I've still got your little piece of incriminating evidence on here, tucked safely away."

"Seriously, Carrots? Is this really the best time?"

"Sure it is, because it's yours to do what you want with."

Nick was completely caught off guard, absolutely not expecting Judy to simply hand the pen over without a fight. The fox weighed his options for a few moments before deciding to go ahead and reach for the pen.

However, before he could actually touch the pen, Judy tossed it into the air, the pen landing in the snow on the other side of the fence.

"Really?" asked Nick, giving Judy another flat look.

Judy remained silent, a wistful look on her face as she looked past Nick's face.

Sighing, Nick made his way over to the fence to climb up it, only for the jingle of the chain to remind him of the fact that he was still cuffed to Judy.

"Finnick…"

"What?"

"Can you please grab that pen for me? I would do it, but I'm kind of still attached to Carrots, here." said Nick, showing Finnick the cuff on his wrist.

Finnick was admittedly pretty annoyed at having to do Nick's dirty work again, but he remained silent, walking over and climbing the fence.

However, just as he touched down on the other side of the fence, he nearly jumped out of his shoes when he saw Judy already on the other side of the fence, the carrot pen in hand.

"I was honestly expecting Nick to do this, but thanks for giving me probable cause anyway, I suppose." said Judy, smiling as Finnick fumed.

The three of them began walking through the aisles of limos, which thankfully wasn't too large considering they were already getting into the late hours of the night as they searched for the right license plate.

Eventually, using her phone's flashlight, Judy brushed some of the snow off of a license plate and found the exact car they were looking for.

"Hey guys! This is it!" she gestured, more to Finnick than anything considering Nick was standing right next to her.

"Right on the money, Carrots. Come on, let's go check it out." said Nick, walking up to the front door and opening it up, the door thankfully unlocked.

Although Judy was a little apprehensive about breaking into a limousine, she willingly followed Nick inside as Finnick chose to remain outside as a lookout.

"Try and see if you can find anything that can tell us who this limo belongs to, alright?"

"Aye aye, Carrots." said Nick, sarcastically saluting before beginning to search around the limo.

It didn't take long for them to search through the front of the limo, unfortunately coming up empty outside of some Rat Pack CDs.

"Wow, who even listens to CDs anymore?" said Nick.

Luckily, though, they were able to open the screen that separated the driver from the back of the limo, and what they found was pretty interesting.

"Wow, this looks pretty fancy." commented Judy.

"As are most limos, Carrots. Really, what would you expect?"

Judy ignored Nick's playful jibe in favor of sweeping the area with her phone's flashlight. The two of them managed to slip through the screen and into the back side of the limo so that they could get a closer look.

The search in the back ended up being pretty quick, however, as Nick's eye was attracted to a pristine looking shot glass sitting inside a cup holder.

"Hang on, I think I see something."

Curious, Judy followed Nick over to the holder as he picked up the glass. The fox's face soon fell open in shock, though, when he turned the glass around and saw what was embossed on the other side.

"We need to go, now!"


	7. Chapter 7

Judy looked at Nick, confused as she watched the fox try his best not to hyperventilate.

"Go? Why? We're getting close to finding out where Otterton is, so why do you want to stop now?"

"Because…I know exactly who this limo belongs to, and believe me, it's someone you do not want to cross, especially by sneaking around in their own vehicle!"

Judy was admittedly a little apprehensive considering how badly Nick was taking this kind of news. However, before she could actually ask Nick about who he was talking about, the door to the limo flew open.

It took both of them a few seconds for their eyes to readjust to the sudden intensity of the light, so when their vision cleared, they were met with two very angry polar bears in suits, Finnick nowhere to be seen.

Judy glanced over at Nick once more, the fox's expression unreadable, although she could tell that he wasn't happy at being ditched.

"Raymond! Kevin! Good to see you guys." said Nick, adopting a big smile on his face as he turned towards the polar bears. "Hey listen, I know that we aren't exactly _supposed_ to be here, but how about you guys do us a favor and just pretend you never saw the two of us? We can just leave, and you two'll never have to worry about us again. How about it?"

Nick traded looks between the two polar bears, thinking that they would willingly leave them alone, but two giant paws going around most of his and Judy's bodies showed him the exact opposite outcome.

"Guess not." said Nick through his constricted airway, trying his best to get air into him as him and Judy were pulled out of the limo.

Thankfully, they were soon released, but both Nick and Judy barely had enough time to register that they were inside another limo (considering they were too busy sucking in air) before the door to freedom shut, and the limo pulled out of its parking spot.

* * *

The occupants of the limo were silent as it continued to drive on its way towards its destination. Nick and Judy were unceremoniously squeezed in between Raymond and Kevin, the former simply facing forwards while the latter pulled out his phone and pulled up the pictures, chuckling as he scrolled through some pictures of their other dealings.

As for Nick, he was still in the middle of trying not to panic, although his expression showed that it was getting increasingly tough for him to do so.

"You alright, Nick?" whispered Judy, a little concerned about the way he was acting.

"Oh yeah, I'm just peachy. I'm being driven to one of the most notorious crime bosses in all of Tundratown, and there's no telling what Mr. Big is going to do to me. Yeah, I'm great." he said, his tone slightly manic.

"Well, what did you even to do to him to get you to even act like this?" she asked, curious.

"I may have sold him a very expensive rug made from a skunk…'s butt." he said, his voice coming in an even hoarser whisper.

"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers."

* * *

Soon enough, the limo came to a stop after passing through a large set of gates adorned with the same large 'B' that Nick spotted on the glassware in the limo.

Nick and Judy were only given a few moments to move their legs around once Raymond and Kevin had exited the car before they were dragged out by the handcuff chain, their legs dangling helplessly in the air as they were carried inside the mansion.

After being carried through a few rooms, the two of them were finally set down inside a comfortable-looking office, a fireplace sitting across from a large wooden desk, with pictures and bookshelves spread across the walls.

The occupants of the room were silent for a few more moments as everyone was waiting for something to happen. This gave Judy the opportunity to look around the room and try to figure out who this Mr. Big Nick mentioned was.

"Is that Mr. Big?" she whispered to Nick, pointing towards one of the polar bears next to the fireplace.

"No! Now would you please be quiet?" he whispered back.

"Hey, I just assumed that he must be one of the polar bears considering that's all I'm seeing!" said Judy indignantly.

"This is really not the time, Carrots!"

Judy and Nick's conversation was immediately cut short as the nearby door opened, admitting a much larger polar bear, his paws cupped around something that Judy couldn't actually see.

"Is that Mr. Big?"

Nick shushed her, and just in time considering the polar bear was at the desk, setting what he had in his hands on the surface to reveal a tiny chair. Judy noticed Nick give an involuntary twitch once the polar bear spun the chair around to reveal a tiny arctic shrew in a suit, which she didn't expect at all.

"Ah, if it isn't my old friend Nicholas Piberius Wilde. I certainly did not expect to see you show up on this, the day of my daughter's wedding."

The shrew, which Judy assumed must have been Mr. Big considering Nick's expression, reached out one of his paws as Nick showed respect by kissing it.

"Well, Mr. Big, sir, I admittedly was brought here against my will, so I wouldn't consider it as much of a surprise, to be honest."

Mr. Big thankfully ignored Nick's less than cordial reply in favor of focusing his attention on Judy, who was a little surprised to find herself suddenly pulled into the conversation.

"And who is this little lady? I don't recall you ever mentioning associating with rabbits."

Judy stepped forwards towards Mr. Big.

"My name's Judy Hopps. I'm a-"

"Mime!"

Judy immediately wheeled around to face Nick, who was the one who interrupted her. Before she could actually try and get an answer as to why he did so, though, Nick continued speaking.

"Yeah, she's a mime, but she's really not all that great considering she doesn't know when to _keep her mouth shut_." he said, the last words coming out in a hiss.

Although Judy was slightly miffed at being told to keep her mouth shut, she remained quiet, allowing Nick to continue speaking.

"So anyway, I believe that this is all just one big misunderstanding, sir. All I'm asking is that you find it in your heart to forgive me, and we can just go on our merry way, especially on your daughter's wedding. Does that sound good to you, sir?"

Nick plastered another smile on his face, waiting to see if Mr. Big would be as forgiving as he thought he was.

Initially, Mr. Big remained silent, and it began to seem to Nick and Judy like he was considering whether or not to actually forgive Nick.

"I feel very sorry for you right now, Nicholas. We brought you into our family like you were one of our own. Even Grandmama was willing to bake you her special cannoli, just for the occasion." said Mr. Big, pointing towards a framed picture over the fireplace of Grandmama, the nearby polar bear crossing himself.

Judy and Nick traded looks, the latter looking despondent once he realized that things weren't going his way.

"And you decide to betray all of that trust by selling me a rug made from a skunk's behind. You've hurt me, Nicholas. Both myself and Grandmama especially. I was forced to bury her in that skunk butt rug."

Mr. Big fell silent as he reflected on the life of his Grandmama before finally focusing his attention once more on the terrified fox.

"There's only one thing I can do to pay back all of the trust that was lost between us. Ice 'em."

Despite Nick's pleas for forgiveness, two of the polar bears grabbed Nick, pulling him off of his feet as another polar bear removed a large wooden plank from where they were originally standing, revealing a deep hole with a river at the bottom, the temperature no doubt very cold considering the ice inside and around said river.

"Wait! Wait, you can't do this! What about Judy?" said Nick desperately.

"What about her?"

"We're handcuffed together! If you throw me down there, she's going to go down with me."

Mr. Big paused, realizing that Nick was in fact right. However, he wasn't fazed in the slightest by that factor.

"Ice her as well."

"What? Why?" asked Judy, shocked.

"I may have very bushy eyebrows, but I'm not blind. I can see the police badge underneath that eyesore of a vest."

"You do realize that if you kill me, then the entire ZPD will be on your doorstep, right?"

"Not if they don't know that you're here."

Judy opened her mouth to counter Mr. Big's argument, only to realize that he was exactly right. With the circumstances they were currently in, there was no way she would even have been able to get into contact with the ZPD without Chief Bogo getting in her hair about everything that's happened today.

Another polar bear grabbed Judy by the collar of her uniform, placing her next to Nick as the two of them hovered over the deep pit.

However, before Mr. Big could actually signal them to actually do the deed, they were suddenly interrupted.

"Daddy!"

Both Judy and Nick were caught off guard by another shrew entering the room, hopping up on the desk thanks to the help of one of the polar bears. She had on a wedding dress as well, which Judy assumed must have meant that she was the daughter Mr. Big was talking about.

As for the daughter herself, whose name was Fru Fru, her expression changed into one of anger when she noticed Nick and Judy still hovering over the hole, having not moved an inch.

"Daddy, what did I say? No icing anyone at my wedding!" she said, admonishing her father.

"I have to, baby. Daddy has to."

Mr. Big signaled for the polar bears to drop Nick and Judy, but before they could do so, Fru Fru cried out to stop them.

"Wait!"

"What now?" asked Mr. Big, irritated.

"Shouldn't we at least get those handcuffs off of them? I mean, I may not be happy that you're doing something I explicitly made you promise not to do today, but at least those two will be more comfortable."

Not only was Mr. Big surprised at what his daughter was suggesting, both Nick and Judy were surprised as well, gaping as they watched Mr. Big signal for one of the polar bears to come over.

After a few seconds of Mr. Big whispering in the polar bear's ear, the bear left the room, the air becoming quite a bit more awkward soon after.

A few more seconds pass before Fru Fru suddenly clears her throat, looking straight at Judy and Nick. Thankfully, they get the hint and focus their attention on the female shrew as Fru Fru began to speak.

"Sorry I couldn't help you guys out. You know how my daddy is sometimes. Stubborn as a mule." she said, slightly despondent at not being able to save the two of them.

Nick remained silent, his brain almost shutting down after realizing that there was no way he was going to get out of this mess. As for Judy, she decided that she needed to show her appreciation to Fru Fru for the both of them, despite knowing that her death was most likely imminent.

"It's okay. I know you did your best."

Judy looked away for a few moments, glancing towards the door before returning to focusing on Fru Fru.

"I like your hair, by the way."

Even though Fru Fru was slightly caught off guard by the out of nowhere compliment, she smiled.

"Thanks."

The two girls didn't get much of a chance to speak more, as the door soon opened, revealing the polar bear who was originally sent out, as well as a diminutive sea otter who had a pair of horn rimmed glasses on his face, as well as a green sweater vest with a fish pattern and a white dress shirt and yellow tie under said sweater vest.

"Wait, is that…Mr. Otterton?" said Judy to herself.

Surprisingly, it was in fact Emmet Otterton, almost the spitting image of his wife outside of being male. As he was being led in, Judy noticed that Mr. Otterton had some random tools in his grip, including a pen knife, a hairpin, and an actual lock picking tool in his paws, making it appear to Judy that he was indeed proficient at lock picking like Nick said.

Nick and Judy were both set back down on the ground, although the polar bears who grabbed them still retained a firm grip on the two of them.

Mr. Otterton soon walked up to the two of them, eyeing the handcuffs for a few moments before deciding on the tool he was going to use to perform the procedure. However, before he could make the decision, Judy spoke up.

"Excuse me. Are you by any chance Emmet Otterton?"

The otter paused, Judy's question not being something he expected to hear.

"Yes, that's my name. Why do you ask?" he said, confused.

Judy sighed, slightly relieved despite the predicament they were in, before speaking once more.

"Nick and I have been looking for you all day. I lost the keys to these handcuffs, and he told me that you know how to pick locks like these."

"Well, I'm not exactly a seasoned pro at doing these kinds of things, but I'll do my best."

Although slightly apprehensive at the fact that Otterton wasn't completely a pro at lock picking, she willingly let him go to work, the otter deciding to go with the lock picking tool for simplicity's sake.

As Otterton dug into the keyhole with his tool, trying to find the exact spot that would release the latch, Judy suddenly remembered that she was left with a message to pass on.

"Oh, Mr. Otterton!"

"What?" he asked, nearly jumping in fright.

"Sorry! I just wanted to pass on a message from your wife. She said that she's worried about you. Frankly, I'd be as well, especially considering you never told her where you were going."

Mr. Otterton looked away, his expression faltering for a few moments.

"I wish I could tell her." he said as he returned to working on the lock. "Can you imagine what she'd think when I tell her that I'm working as a florist for one of the most feared crime bosses in all of Zootopia, though? She'd flip, and I love her too much to put her through that kind of misery!"

Judy remained silent, slightly disappointed that Mr. Otterton wasn't willing to confide in his wife, but she could understand his reasoning.

Just as she was about to comfort him, though, she heard a light click, and the pressure on her wrist was immediately relieved when Mr. Otterton released the lock on her side of the cuffs.

As Judy rubbed at her wrist to bring back some of the circulation, Mr. Otterton went to work on Nick's side of the cuffs, successfully unlocking them a few minutes later.

Once Nick and Judy were finally released from the cuffs, Mr. Otterton collected the handcuffs and handed them back over to Judy. He silently gave both her and Nick looks of sympathy after seeing the icing hole open, leaving the room as he decided that he should probably be heading back home to his wife.

Unfortunately for Nick and Judy, their extra time was now up, and they were both lifted back above the hole, the two of them curling upwards in an attempt to avoid the freezing temperatures coming from under them.

"Now, let us get back to business now that our problem has been taken care of." said Mr. Big, a small smile on his face.

Nick and Judy traded looks of fright, their relief at finally being released from the handcuffs overridden by sheer panic.

They didn't get that much more time to think about their predicament, though, as the two of them were dropped into the hole a few seconds later, the both of them grabbing each other tightly and screaming as they plummeted into the freezing waters below.

* * *

 **Quick note: As you can imagine from the way this chapter went, this story is on the home stretch. Don't worry, though. Nick and Judy may be released from their handcuffs, but it's not over yet. I'm aiming for around ten chapters in total for this story, but there may be more or less. I'm not honestly sure at this point.**

 **Anyway, thanks for sticking around.**

 **RK**


	8. Chapter 8

Darkness.

That's all Judy could see when she hit the water, the freezing temperatures combined with her accidentally hitting her head on the embankment causing her to black out.

As she aimlessly swam through the darkness, she began to wonder if anyone would be sad that she was probably going to be dead soon enough.

Obviously, her parents would be very upset at the news, not to mention all of her two hundred or so siblings. It took a lot of convincing on Judy's part to prevent them from simply dragging her away from the Bunnyburrow train station back to the farm to spend the rest of her life working with them.

As for Chief Bogo and the rest of the ZPD, she admittedly wasn't sure if they would upset at the news of her death. I mean, sure, losing an officer would probably be very bad for their morale, but with the way they treated her that morning, she began to believe that they probably wouldn't be as upset as she would have thought.

Other than those two, she couldn't think of any other people that she knew well enough that would even have a vested interest in her still being alive. Of course there was Nick and Finnick, but they've only known each other for a few hours, and even then the former was most likely going to be dead along with her, so that left Finnick, and she doubted the grouchy fennec fox would be too fussed.

She mentally sighed, figuring that maybe things wouldn't be so bad. I mean, sure, freezing to death in an icy river wasn't the way she thought she would go out. Frankly, if she had the choice on how she wanted to go out, she would have preferred to go out making Zootopia a better place like she told her parents she wanted to do. Still, maybe once she and Nick were dead, they could meet up in the afterlife and haunt Finnick. It would be really funny to screw with the little guy.

Fate had other plans, however.

* * *

Nicholas Piberius Wilde was known as a lot of things in his life. Sneaky…underhanded…mostly things that most people would think of when asked to describe a fox. One quality that Nick had that those people wouldn't have thought of, though, was sheer tenacity.

Despite his limbs wanting to completely lock up thanks to the extremely cold temperatures of the river he was in, Nick was frantically looking for an escape route, keeping himself moving as much as he could to keep the blood flowing.

Breaching the surface of the water, Nick breathed in as much air as he could while at the same time resisting the urge to wrap his arms around his body to keep as warm as he could manage while submerged in what amounted to an ice bath.

Eventually, as he was being dragged through the water, Nick somehow managed to spot an area of the embankment that wasn't completely covered in ice.

Steeling himself for the journey over, Nick pushed himself as hard as he could manage against the current, swimming over and somehow managing to make it through sheer willpower.

However, just as he was about to pull himself out of the freezing cold, he soon realized that something was missing.

"Carrots! Hey, Carrots, I found a way out!" he yelled, hoping that Judy would have heard and began heading his way.

Unfortunately, there was no reply. Nick briefly considered pulling himself out of the water and letting nature take its course, but he knew he could have never lived with himself if he let Judy die without at least trying to save her. Sure, she was a pain in the neck sometimes, but at the same time Nick had the most fun he had in years spending time with her and Finnick today.

Sighing, Nick dove back into the freezing cold water, hoping that Judy was still okay.

Unluckily, Judy wasn't just ignoring him like he hoped, as he couldn't see any sign of her above the water.

"God, I hope she's not knocked out or anything." Nick thought to himself, unable to voice his concern due to him concentrating on not going completely numb.

Thankfully, despite the number of ice floes that were dotted throughout the river, Nick was able to see relatively clearly under the water, and he soon spotted the rabbit in question, his eyes shooting open in surprise when she saw her prone form under the water. Unfortunately, with the amount of time he wasted trying to get out of the water, she was quite a bit of a distance in front of him, the current carrying her along without any resistance.

Nick really didn't want to think about the possibility of anything dangerous being at the end of the river, so after taking a second to catch his breath, he dove down into the water, using his sleek frame to swim as fast as he could towards Judy.

Luckily, swimming with the current proved to be a heck of a lot easier to deal with than swimming against it, so Nick did eventually manage to catch up with her.

Wrapping an arm around her unmoving body (and hoping that she was still alive), Nick swam towards the surface once more, pulling Judy's unconscious body up with him.

Despite the fact that the water was still very cold, the embankment around them was no longer icy, which came as a surprise to Nick as he was clearly expecting to have to swim back to that area he found before.

After thanking whatever gods were watching, Nick swam over to the embankment, pulling Judy out of the water and putting her a little more roughly than he intended on to dry land before pulling himself up next to her.

Picking Judy back up, Nick began walking away from the river, not even sparing the Big mansion in the distance as he was too worried about Judy's well-being.

Eventually, when Nick was satisfied with the amount of distance, he put Judy back down on to the ground and dropped to his knees.

Admittedly, Nick was never actually trained in CPR, but he'd seen enough of people performing it on television to get a general idea of what to do.

"Come on, Carrots. Stay with me." Nick said as he began to perform chest compressions.

Although a little apprehensive about what he had to do next, Nick willingly pressed his muzzle up against Judy's lips, providing much needed air as he repeated the steps as many times as he felt he needed to.

"Carrots, please! Stay with me!"

Even Nick was a bit surprised at how choked up he was getting, considering Judy wasn't as yet responding to his attempts at CPR. Still, he refused to stop.

* * *

Judy was admittedly prepared to move on to the next life as she continued swimming through the pitch blackness of her mind, but nothing seemed to be happening.

"Why am I not dead yet?" she thought, wincing a little but when she realized just how morbid that sounded.

Honestly, she didn't really have any idea of what it felt like to be dead, considering there wasn't anyone around to actually tell her what it felt like, but Judy did feel like it would be something a little more interesting than just darkness.

As much as she wanted to dwell on that fact, though, it didn't take long before she was pulled out of her thoughts by a voice echoing through the darkness.

"What the…is that…Nick?" she thought to herself, her mind in a bit of a haze.

After straining her ears for a bit, she barely managed to catch the use of Carrots, and while she had a bit of a hard time discerning the voice itself, she knew that there was only one person who ever called her that.

Forcing herself to move, Judy began heading towards where the voice came from, only to be blinded as she went through a column of bright light that she didn't actually realize was there before.

* * *

"Judy, please! Don't leave me!"

Nick, desperate when he realized that the CPR wasn't working, resorted to drastic measures, smacking her in the chest as hard as he could with his paws.

Although he was a little worried that he was doing more harm than good by using these methods, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard coughing coming from under him.

Whipping his head downwards, Nick watched intently as Judy coughed up some water before finally opening her eyes.

"Wha-"

Judy's question was immediately cut off when she was pulled into a tight hug from Nick, who was ecstatic that he managed to save her life.

It didn't take long, however, before she could feel shivering coming from the fox wrapped around her small body.

"Nick, are you alright?" she asked, her voice coming out in a rasp.

"Yeah…I'm just…freezing." he said, trying his best to prevent his teeth from chattering.

With the adrenaline from Nick's rescue of Judy gone, his soaked clothes and fur was really starting to get to him, and after finally releasing Judy, he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to get warm.

As for Judy, she had a bit of an easier time considering she initially had Nick wrapped around her, but once the fox released her, she could feel the cool air around her, which really didn't mix very well with her own soaked through clothes.

"H-how a-are we even still alive? I was f-fully expecting for us to have died back there." she said through her own chattering teeth.

"I s-saved you, actually. You were knocked out."

Judy paused, slightly caught off guard by Nick's admission.

"Wow…t-thank you for s-saving my life. I don't know how I can repay you." she said, shocked.

"It's fine. I'm not worried about it."

Judy was still determined to find a way to repay Nick for his generosity despite Nick's refusal, but she remained silent, choosing instead to reflect on what had just happened.

Years of being taught by her parents about the dangers of foxes had caused her to be a little worried when she interacted with the species, especially after her interactions with Gideon Grey back in school. She would have been lying to herself if she said that she wasn't scared of foxes, either.

With Nick, though, things were very different. Despite the number of times she'd wanted to throttle the fox for how much he was screwing around, Nick has been one of the nicest foxes she has ever met.

To be fair, he was only the second fox she'd ever met after Gideon, but that didn't mean anything in the long run to her, considering Nick's been a definite gentleman.

As Judy sat there, freezing her butt off as her entire world view of foxes was rewritten before her eyes; she couldn't help but remember something interesting that happened when she was still technically unconscious.

"Hey Nick, I've just remembered something pretty weird."

"What is it?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"You've just called me by my real name, didn't you?"

Nick's eyes shot open in surprise, as he thought that she hadn't heard him say that, but he remained composed as he prepared his denials.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. I heard you." said Judy, needling Nick playfully.

"Nope. I don't recall ever saying something like that."

Nick gave Judy a side long look, smiling a little bit as he hoped that he wouldn't have to explain the fact that he let her real name slip while he was in the middle of trying to save her.

"Alright, alright. I'll be nice. I know for a fact that you said my name, but if you don't want to talk about it, I won't make you." said Judy.

Nick was admittedly satisfied now that he got out of explaining himself, but then he soon noticed the look of sadness on Judy's face, and his expression changed immediately to one of slight awkwardness.

"Okay, I'll tell you." said Nick, unable to look at her expression anymore. "I was worried that you weren't going to make it. It slipped out. Honest!"

To Nick's surprise, Judy suddenly had a smug smile on her face, as she knew that she got him pretty easily.

"What the…were you faking that look?" he asked, slightly miffed.

"Yup, and you fell for it hook, line and sinker."

"You are _so_ mean."

"Hey, it's called a hustle, sweetheart."

Nick couldn't help but smile a little bit as the two of them fell silent.

"So, uh…what now?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"What do we do now? We somehow survived getting iced, we somehow got the cuffs off, and now we're sitting around freezing our butts off."

Judy paused, looking around the area. Unfortunately, they were both in the middle of nowhere. While there was Mr. Big's mansion in the distance (which she had no intention of ever going towards), there was pretty much nowhere else to go for a good distance away.

"Well…I guess all we can do is start walking. Hopefully we'll be able to make it to a road somewhere and we can flag someone down."

Nick was about ready to willingly agree with Judy's plan, only for an idea to suddenly form in his head. Holding up a finger to silence Judy for a minute, he reached into his pocket, wincing a little after having to touch the freezing cold fabric before his clawed fingers wrapped around his phone.

Nick was admittedly surprised that it had somehow managed to stay in his pocket the entire time that they were swimming through the river, but he was willing to simply take it as a good sign.

Unfortunately, when he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the button to turn the screen on, he found that nothing seemed to work.

"Ah, come on! Stupid thing doesn't work anymore." he said, letting out a swear as he smacked it with his paw a couple of times.

"I'm pretty sure it'd be a miracle for that thing to work after spending so much time in the water." pointed out Judy, slightly sarcastically.

"True, but seriously, they told me when I bought this thing that it was waterproof. I believe I'm going to have some words to say to them, and not all of them are going to be nice."

"Come on, you. Let's get moving." said Judy, rolling her eyes as she began walking.

Nick, meanwhile, eventually gave up on trying to get his phone to start working again, sticking it back in his pocket as he began following Judy, already formulating his long-winded rant once he managed to find a way to get in contact with his phone company.


	9. Chapter 9

Despite the night air helping dry out Nick and Judy's clothes, it still didn't really help much when it came to the two of them still freezing their butts off.

"God, I'm going to be so sick in the morning. Why did we have to go all the way out here? I'm never going to be able to make it into work in this state." said Judy as they continued walking.

"Well, that depends on if you actually still have your job." pointed out Nick.

"You are really not helping."

"Well, hey, at least I'm trying."

Judy opened her mouth to refute Nick's last statement, but she reconsidered, deciding to change the subject.

"So…what are you going to do now we're not chained together?"

This question came as a bit of surprise to Nick, but thankfully he was able to quickly come up with something.

"I don't know. I never really thought that far ahead. I guess I'll probably just meet up with Finnick again, and we'll do what we've been doing before."

"Even after he ditched us? Wow, you are one forgiving fox." said Judy, impressed.

"Oh, I'll have something to say to him about that. Still, it's not like I can just find someone else to work with or even fly solo. Nicholas Wilde doesn't work that way, especially considering how well things are working out with him."

Judy paused as she reflected on what Nick had in mind, slightly disappointed that he wanted to go back to what he was doing before after making so much progress on changing his life. It didn't take too long, though, before she suddenly had an idea, her expression brightening as she began digging through her pockets.

"Uh, Carrots? What are you doing?" asked Nick, confused as he watched Judy digging with quite a bit of zeal.

Judy chose not to answer Nick's question in favor of asking something to him herself.

"You know, as long as things go well with Chief Bogo once I get back and I still have my job, I could always use a partner to help me out. I've seen how you work, and I think you'd be perfect."

As Nick's eyes shot open in surprise, not expecting to hear this kind of offer from her, Judy finally managed to find what she was looking for. However, as she pulled it out to hand over to Nick, she was disappointed to find that the item, a folded piece of paper, was way too soggy to even open.

"Ah, no! The form's ruined!" she said, chucking it into a nearby garbage can in disgust.

"Oh well. Looks like I can't sign up now, even if I wanted to." said Nick nonchalantly, shrugging.

"Oh, it's no problem. I can just get a new one when we get back to the station. Speaking of, what do you think about my offer? Are you interested?"

Nick paused, slightly put off by Judy's expectant look, but he eventually sighed.

"Well, it's a lot to consider, Carrots. You mind giving me some time to think about it?"

"Oh, sure! We still have to find a way to the station, anyway."

As Judy turned to continue heading towards where she hoped a road would be, Nick couldn't help but roll his eyes at her continued perkiness despite the situation they were in. Still, it was something he couldn't help but feel was endearing about her.

The two of them fell silent once more as they continued walking, but it didn't last very long before Nick's night vision managed to spot a nearby road, the streetlights not helping matters that much.

"Oh, thank god. There's a road." he said, relieved.

"Good, there's one problem, though."

"What's that?"

Judy quickly checked her watch, which luckily managed to survive the trip through the ice river.

"It's ten o' clock at night. What kind of person would be driving this late at night, especially in a place like Tundratown?" she asked, gesturing towards the still quite icy areas around her as she spoke.

"You know, you always seem to find a way to ruin the fun, Carrots. Thanks." said Nick, giving Judy a flat look.

"Oh, shut it, you." she said, lightly punching Nick on the arm before returning her focus to the road, trying to formulate a plan to get them back to Savannah Central.

Luckily, Nick managed to save the day once again. As he looked off into the distance to see which way they would need to go to get back home, he found that home actually wasn't all that far away.

"Hey look! There's the city! All we have to do is cut through Sahara Square and we're golden!" he said, excited.

"That's cool, Nick, but that is still a pretty decent walk. It's probably going to be midnight by the time we get there!"

"Not unless we hitch a ride."

Judy looked up, confused as she wondered what Nick was talking about. However, when she noticed that he was looking off into the distance behind her, she quickly turned around and found that there was a single car driving in their direction.

After thanking her lucky stars for the break, Judy rushed towards the car, ignoring the rushing wind not mixing well with her still very wet clothes.

"Hey! Stop, please!"

Unfortunately, with it being as dark as it was, the driver failed to notice Judy, which confused her. Quickly looking down at her torso, she was surprised to find that the orange vest that she was wearing the whole day was no longer there, which caught her off guard, but she had no time to figure out why it was missing.

Digging into her pockets once more, Judy managed to pull out her badge and quickly flip it open, yelling as loud as she could.

"Police! Stop!"

Thankfully, the badge managed to glint off of one of the nearby streetlights, which caught the attention of the driver as they stopped the car just in time.

"Yes! I am so glad I shined this thing this morning." she said to herself, hugging it a bit before rushing to the driver's side door, Nick following close behind once he realized that he managed to get the car stopped.

"Hey, I didn't do anything wrong, officer! I don't know why you're stopping me." said the driver, an oryx that eerily reminded Judy of her neighbors back in her apartment building, but she quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts before things got awkward.

"I'm sorry, sir, you're not in trouble or anything. I just have a favor to ask of you."

"And what's that?" asked the driver suspiciously. "I don't want to get involved with any corrupt cops or anything."

"What? No! I'm not corrupt or anything! My friend and I just really need a ride back to Savannah Central. We kind of got in a bit of trouble here in Tundratown, and we don't have a ride back."

"What kind of trouble?"

Judy was admittedly a little nervous considering the amount of questions she was getting from the driver. She really didn't want to mention anything about Mr. Big, wanting to avoid the chance of the driver getting freaked out and driving away, so she quickly thought something up.

"Oh, it's nothing big. We hit an ice patch and ended up getting thrown into the river. Car's totaled, unfortunately."

Judy was honestly a little surprised at how quickly she was able to come up with a lie, considering just how little she's actually done that kind of thing in life, but before the driver could get suspicious, she plastered on a big smile as the oryx studied the two of them.

"Fine. You're lucky I'm heading back there, otherwise I wouldn't bother."

"Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate it."

The driver reluctantly hit the unlock button on his door, allowing Judy and Nick to climb in the back and close the door behind them.

* * *

The first part of the drive was pretty uneventful, as no one really spoke to each other. The driver was unhappy at being roped in to having to drive a police officer and someone else into the city. Judy was unsure if it was actually safe for her to attempt to strike up a conversation considering the mood the driver was in, so that was why she remained silent.

As for Nick, he was silent for an entirely different reason, as his focus was entirely on the rear view mirror, the driver's face shining through clearly.

"Nick, you do realize it's rude to stare, right?" whispered Judy.

This just earned her a shush from the fox, which admittedly flustered her.

"What's going on, Nick? Why are you staring at that guy so intently?"

Nick didn't answer immediately, as he was still pretty focused on the driver, but he eventually pulled himself away from the mirror to lean over towards Judy.

"It's fine. I thought he was someone I knew, but I think I was wrong. Stupid oryxes all look the same." he said, rolling his eyes before falling silent.

Judy was admittedly a little caught off guard, wondering if Nick may have been hiding something, but she really didn't want to bring it up and end up causing a scene in front of the one person who could get them back to the city, so she reluctantly remained silent.

Thankfully, the driver appeared to be blissfully unaware of the spirited conversation that was just going on between his passengers, considering he was too busy focusing on the road, so the drive continued to be pretty uneventful.

* * *

Eventually, after spending some time cutting through Sahara Square (enough so that Nick and Judy's clothes were finally beginning to dry), the driver soon pulled past the boundaries between the two districts into Savannah Square.

After a few more minutes of driving, they soon came to a stop just outside of Central Station, the Precinct and City Hall just off in the distance.

"Thank you so much for helping us out, sir. We really appreciate it." said Judy, wanting to make sure he knew just how much she was thankful.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, please get out. I'm already running late getting home."

Although slightly put out by the driver's tone, Judy willingly exited the car, Nick close behind. Once she closed the door behind her, the driver immediately pulled away, leaving Nick and Judy in what amounted to a ghost town this late at night.

Judy quickly checked her watch, only to start when she realized just how late it was.

"Oh god, it's midnight already? I really have to get home!"

However, before she made a move to rush off, she paused, looking back at Nick, who had a smirk on his face as he watched her panic. As much as she was worried about losing valuable sleep before going to work tomorrow morning, she didn't just want to leave things this way with Nick, someone who she was surprisingly beginning to consider as a friend.

"So, um…do you want to spend some time together tomorrow?"

Nick was fully expecting just a simple goodbye considering how Judy was originally acting, so what he actually heard from her did catch him off guard a bit.

"Don't you think this is going a bit too fast, Carrots? We only just met." he said, pulling a smug comment practically out of thin air.

Judy's cheeks immediately flushed red, the meaning behind Nick's comment becoming very apparent to her, but she quickly went on the defensive.

"Hey, it's just as friends, okay? I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet." she said nervously.

Her nervousness soon disappeared, though, as she soon realized that Nick was chuckling pretty heavily.

"Don't worry, Carrots, I'm just joking." he said, noticing the flustered look that Judy was giving him. "I'll be happy to spend some time with you. Frankly, I could use the free time to myself, especially once I get done with Finnick."

"I hope that you're not going to get physical with him, Nick. He may be a grouch, but I don't think he deserves that kind of treatment." she said, slightly apprehensive at Nick's tone.

Nick nodded, but remained silent, forcing Judy to speak up again so that she could keep the conversation moving along.

"So…does Snarlbucks around lunchtime work for you? I think I'm probably going to need some coffee tomorrow anyway, especially with how late it is right now."

Nick shrugged.

"Sure, why not?"

Judy nodded, smiling.

"Awesome. Alright, I'll see you then. And hey, maybe once you get your phone fixed, we can trade phone numbers."

Nick paused for a second, unsure of what Judy was talking about, before it suddenly registered in his brain.

"Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me. Maybe you should probably check your phone, too, by the way."

Judy paused, admittedly caught off guard by Nick's offhanded comment, but as he walked away, she pulled out her phone and attempted to turn it on.

As opposed to Nick's phone, Judy was much luckier, as despite the amount of time it spent underwater, it was actually still functional.

"Oh, nice, it still works. Must be waterproof." she said quietly before walking off towards her apartment building a few streets away.

* * *

Once Judy finally managed to make it back to her apartment, she quietly closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake anyone up at this late at night. Even her normally noisy neighbors were fast asleep, which came as a bit of a surprise to her considering half of their time was spent arguing.

Thankful for the valuable peace and quiet, Judy changed into her pajamas, setting her police uniform out to dry on the floor nearby as she plugged in her phone to charge. She did have a few spares in her closet, but she knew just letting it sit would lead to her room starting to smell pretty bad.

Sighing heavily, Judy hopped into bed. Even though she would normally be doing her normal routine to actually get ready for bed, she really didn't want to waste any more of the valuable time that she'd already wasted stuck out in Tundratown awake. She knew that tomorrow was still going to suck either way, but Judy still wanted to at least be somewhat awake for the inevitable confrontation with Chief Bogo.

And so, Judy Hopps finally went to sleep, her first official day in Zootopia one to remember, although she frankly had some moments where she really didn't want to remember it.


	10. Chapter 10

As she predicted, Judy was quite tired the next morning, her mind still in a haze as she was roused from sleep thanks to the blaring alarm clock.

Groaning in protest, Judy reached over and hit the button to silence it. She initially considered going back to sleep and squeezing in a bit more sleeping time, but with how bad Zootopia's traffic can get in the early hours of the morning thanks to everyone traveling to work and school, she knew that she couldn't risk it.

Reluctantly, she slowly slid out of her bed, letting out a big yawn as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Hopefully a shower will wake me up a bit." she said to herself.

Unfortunately, the apartment building she lived in only had a shared shower for each floor, and despite the early hour she woke up at, someone else on her floor had already beaten her to the shower.

Thankfully, she was luckily able to claim the next spot, and once the shower became empty, she immediately ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, almost flying into the shower itself in her rush to wake up.

The shower did manage to help a little bit, although she was still pretty wiped out, which came as a disappointment to her. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now, so she resolved to load up on some coffee once she got to the precinct.

After getting dressed in one of her spare uniforms, Judy pinned the badge to her chest like always, trying but failing to muster up some energy thanks to her lack of sleep. Sighing, she sauntered over to the front door of her apartment, grabbing her keys before heading out, locking the door behind her.

Thankfully, she was able to get to the precinct with some time to spare, and after suppressing another yawn, she went through the glass doors and up to the desk, where Benjamin Clawhauser was busy enjoying his morning bowl of cereal, the box placed off to the side.

"Morning, Clawhauser. Ready for another day?" said Judy, with a little less enthusiasm than usual.

However, instead of greeting her like she expected him to, Clawhauser's spoon dropped into his bowl, a little bit of milk splashing out as the cheetah looked around the area for a few seconds before realizing what he was doing and leaning over the table to see a slightly disheveled Judy.

"Oh my goodness! There you are, Judy! I haven't seen you since yesterday! What happened?"

"Yeah…it's kind of a long story." said Judy, an awkward look on her face as she nervously rubbed her elbow with her other hand.

She didn't actually get a chance to tell any of the story, though, as the two were immediately interrupted.

"Hopps!"

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Judy quickly looked around the area, trying to figure out where she was being called from.

"Up here."

It took a few seconds for it to register in Judy's sleep-deprived mind, but she eventually looked up towards the higher floors of the precinct to find Chief Bogo, looking none too happy as she regarded him with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"My office. Now."

Her embarrassed look quickly turned into a distraught look as she realized that she was now very much in trouble. There was no telling how much Bogo knew about her escapades with Nick last night, but either way, she really didn't want to know.

Slowly, she began making her way to the stairs, ready to finally face the music. Once she reached the landing where Bogo was, she came to a stop in front of him, the cape buffalo gesturing towards his door with a frown on his face.

As soon as Judy sat down on the way too big chair, Chief Bogo went over to his side of the desk. However, he didn't actually sit down at first. Instead, he paced back and forth for a couple of minutes, letting Judy stew for a bit before finally taking a seat, his elbows propped up on the desk as he finally began speaking.

"So…Officer Hopps…I'm not going to beat around the bush here. You were supposed to have turned in your tickets at the end of your shift yesterday. However, not only have you not done so, you left the cart, which may I remind you was created especially for an animal of your stature, on a random street corner while you disappear for almost twelve hours. Would you mind explaining how that came to be?"

Judy was so nervous about the prospect of her impending punishment that she completely forgot about the cart until now.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about leaving the cart behind! I got-"

Unfortunately, before she could explain what had happened, Bogo held up a hoof to silence her.

"Don't worry about the cart. We've recovered it, as well as all of the tickets. All I'm interested in is your explanation for your disappearance."

After heaving a large sigh (which earned her a reproachful look from her superior), Judy recounted everything that had happened since she'd left the precinct yesterday afternoon, down to the minute detail. And as much as she didn't want to, she also told Bogo everything about the handcuffs she swiped, considering it was the entire basis behind why the whole mess happened.

Once she fell silent, her story finished, Judy watched as Bogo regarded her, his expression unreadable considering it was hidden behind his clasped hooves.

"Did you manage to recover the handcuffs?"

"Yes, sir." she said, removing the handcuffs in question from her belt loop, which she was somewhat surprised initially to find was still with her after getting rescued from the freezing river.

She placed the cuffs on to Bogo's desk, the cape buffalo eyeing them for a second before returning his focus to Judy.

The two of them fell silent, Bogo continuing to try to read Judy's expression while the rabbit stared right back at him, unsure about what was going on.

Eventually, Judy decided that she probably wasn't going to get anywhere waiting for Bogo to speak again, so she decided to take his silence as a sign that her new job was most likely over.

However, as she began to unpin her badge from her chest to hand over to Bogo, the cape buffalo in question held up a hoof once more to stop her.

"Hopps, what are you doing?"

"Turning in my badge. Aren't you going to fire me? I mean, I left my post and disappeared for almost the entire day!" she said, freezing in the middle of unpinning her badge.

Bogo paused, slightly dumbfounded by Judy's actions, but he eventually sighed heavily as he placed his hooves over his eyes, letting them slide down his face as he spoke.

"Look…Officer Hopps…this would be something that probably would end up with you handing in your badge normally."

Judy's face fell as she listened to Bogo speak, about to return to fumbling with the pin on her badge, but what Bogo said next came as a complete surprise to her.

"However, we have been dealing with a shortage of new recruits, so we need all of the help we can get, especially from animals who are as eager to help make Zootopia a better place as you are. Not to mention City Hall would be up my behind if I fired the first animal that proved their Mammal Inclusion Initiative was working." said Bogo, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

As Bogo spoke, Judy's eyes slowly opened in surprise as she took in the implications of what Bogo was trying to say.

"This is why I'm going to give you one more chance to prove that you want to take this job seriously, if you are interested."

Judy was about to answer in the affirmative, but before she could do so, Bogo spoke up once more.

"Before you make your decision, please think carefully about it. This case has been cold for the past week, and it's starting to turn into a real thorn in my side thanks to the severe lack of evidence. And if you fail to solve it in a timely manner, I am going to have to fire you."

Judy was admittedly surprised at how frank Bogo was being about the difficulty of this case, but she wanted nothing more than to use this chance to prove to him that she belonged with all of the other officers, so she gave Bogo a determined look as she gave her answer.

"I'll do it."

Bogo nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Go speak to Clawhauser. He'll give you the case file."

With a new sense of vigor now that her job still wasn't over, Judy hopped off of the chair she was sitting on, giving Bogo a salute before heading off to the front desk.

As for Bogo himself, he couldn't help but let out a small snort as he watched the newly revitalized Judy. Even though he didn't really want to admit it to himself, he was happy to have someone like Judy around to help the precinct out, even if she was wound a little tight.

* * *

Once Judy finally managed to make her way back down to the first floor of the precinct, she resisted the urge to go to the bullpen, considering she had really wanted to start getting used to that being in her normal routine.

Instead, she quickly made her way over to Clawhauser's desk, the bowl of cereal somehow quite a bit fuller than the last time she was here. It was possible that Clawhauser may have been on another bowl, but Judy didn't really want to think about the implications.

"Oh! You're back. With the way the chief looked, I thought he would have been chewing you out for at least another few minutes."

Judy couldn't help but look a little bewildered at Clawhauser's assessment of what had happened, but she put that thought in the back of her mind.

"Hey Clawhauser?"

"Yeah?" he asked, his mouth full of cereal as he had just scooped in another spoonful.

"The chief asked me to come see you about getting a case file?" she asked as he swallowed heavily.

"I'm sorry?" said Clawhauser, confused.

Judy sighed, slightly exasperated yet still understanding.

"Something about a cold case that's been that way for the past week? Didn't he mention anything about it to you?"

It still took Clawhauser a few seconds, but he eventually remembered a conversation he had with the chief earlier in the morning when the subject was brought up.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I was so tired back when Chief Bogo mentioned it to me. I completely forgot about it."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm still kind of tired as well, to be honest." said Judy in an attempt to placate Clawhauser.

Luckily, while it appeared that Clawhauser was about to ask about why that was the case, he suddenly remembered that it was her escapades with Nick last night that was the cause, so he quickly closed his mouth before reaching down into one of his desk drawers, digging through it for a few seconds before pulling out a red manila folder and handing it to Judy.

Judy quickly opened the folder, only to be surprised when she found out that there was practically nothing there.

"Is this it? It seems a little light on information."

"Yeah, that was the one he passed me. Hang on, I'll check to see if something slipped out."

As Clawhauser continued to dig through his desk drawers, Judy spread the file out on his desk, taking a closer look at the details of the case.

Apparently, it seemed to be a simple murder case at first glance, but when she delved into the backstory, things got a little interesting. The actual act in question was caught on camera, but the perpetrator never actually appeared on camera doing the deed. Only the victim was on camera, which was bewildering enough to her.

"Sorry Judy, I don't see anything down here." said Clawhauser, shrugging as he pulled himself back into his seat.

"It's okay, Ben. I'm sure I'll find something to help." she said, although her expression told Clawhauser that she didn't feel very confident at the moment.

Still, the cheetah was nice enough to remain quiet, watching pleasantly as Judy tucked the file under her arm and headed downstairs to Evidence, hoping that she would be able to find something useful.

* * *

Unfortunately, Evidence didn't really have anything else to add to what Judy had so, running out of options, she decided to go ahead and do some research herself.

Thankfully, the precinct had some computers available, and although they were mainly used for paperwork, she was able to pull up the Internet and do a quick search for the victim's name.

"Derek Chase gunned down in broad daylight with cameras watching. Killer still on the loose." read Judy as she skimmed the title of the first article to come up.

She went through many different articles about the murder, each one just as light on details as the case file itself. However, one thing that did catch her interest was the fact that each of the articles she read used almost the same picture, which was a frame of the camera feed showing the young tiger face down in a pool of his own blood.

While it unnerved Judy to see real guns still roaming the streets, remembering her parents mentioning the fact that Zootopia had banned the use of guns in favor of tranquilizers, she still managed to steel her nerve, studying the picture in the case file which just so happened to be the same picture as well, just a few seconds forwards in the timeline.

After a few minutes of closely studying the picture, though, nothing really seemed to be amiss, which troubled Judy greatly.

"Come on, there's got to be something in here I can use!"

Judy ended up grabbing a nearby magnifying glass, deciding to study every minute detail of the picture in the hopes of finding a lead to go on, and it just so happened to do the trick.

Despite the lack of other animals in the picture, Judy's eyes managed to catch a single head in the corner of the shot, and after a few seconds of trying to discern exactly what that head belonged to, she suddenly realized something very strange.

"Wait…that looks like the oryx that gave Nick and I a ride home last night. But…that can't be. What are the odds that someone we just happen to run into happens to be a witness to a murder case? Unless…it's not him and it's another oryx. They do look the same sometimes."

Judy was admittedly unsure of where she was going with this train of thought. However, once she mentioned to herself the fact that oryxes tend to look similar, that was when something hit her.

"Oh my god…I need to talk to Nick."

* * *

 **Alright, I know I said that I was bringing this story to a close around this chapter, but please bear with me. I think I have a really good way to really finish this story off and bring us to the point where the movie's storyline ended, except in my own way. Hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **P.S. And yes, in case you weren't paying attention, Nick's seemingly off handed comment about knowing an oryx like their driver wasn't as offhanded as you guys think. Intrigue!**


	11. Chapter 11

Unfortunately, as much as Judy wanted to rush over to Snarlbucks to talk to Nick, it wasn't actually lunch time quite yet, so she decided to pass the time by studying the actual video that she received from Evidence, hoping that she would be able to get some new information out of it.

At first, nothing seemed to come from it, mostly because all she could see was the victim falling to the ground dead after passing by the camera, with the witnesses running for their lives a few seconds later. She couldn't even hear any kind of bang to signify a gun being used, but she assumed that was probably because of the fact that the cameras didn't record sound.

"This doesn't make any sense! Ugh…think, Judy, think! There must be something I'm missing." she said to herself, giving herself a few slaps on the head to help her focus.

Somehow this managed to do the trick, as Judy began focusing on the entire video rather than just the area around the victim, and her eyes successfully managed to catch a couple of quick flashes coming from a nearby alleyway.

"Seriously, an alleyway? That's kind of a letdown for a case of this magnitude." she mumbled.

Backing the video up once more, Judy quickly stopped the feed right when one of the flashes occurred. However, even with all of the state of the art tech that the ZPD had on call, the one thing their software lacked was the ability to control the position of the camera. Even if the alleyway was bright enough for Judy to be able to see into, the awkward camera angle made it incredibly difficult for her to see even a few feet into it.

Groaning in disgust, Judy reluctantly closed the video program, ejecting the disc that the video was on before heading out and returning it to Evidence.

Luckily though, Judy managed to waste enough time dealing with the video that it was almost lunch time. Smiling, she rushed up the stairs, intending to get over to Snarlbucks as quickly as possible. Even luckier was that the closest one just happened to be across the street from the precinct.

However, the only problem was that Judy completely forgot to clarify which store to meet at, considering from what she had heard and seen, there were quite a few branches scattered around the main city and the surrounding districts.

Despite the low odds of getting the right one, Judy felt somewhat confident in Nick's ability to figure things out, especially with the one nearby being the only one in the immediate area, so after notifying Clawhauser of her intent to go on lunch, she quickly ran out of the building and across the way to the store.

* * *

After Judy made her way into the Snarlbucks, she was admittedly a little nervous, having not seen hide or hair of Nick.

Clutching the case file to her side, Judy walked over and was about to order a coffee when the bell above the door jingled.

Judy quickly whipped her head around towards the door, nearly giving herself whiplash in her haste to find out who entered. Thankfully, it was in fact Nick, his normal half-lidded stare on his face as he looked around the shop.

He didn't really get much time to look around, though, before Judy rushed over, coming to a stop right in front of him. She barely managed to resist the urge to hug him in her joy at him finding the right coffee shop, but Nick somehow managed to get an idea of how she was feeling from the expression on her face.

"What's with the sudden affection, Fluff? I told you I was going to come."

Judy nervously cleared her throat after a few seconds, composing herself before speaking.

"Sorry, I just realized that I forgot to mention which shop we were going to meet at last night. I was worried that I would have to find which one you went to."

"Well, that's commercialism for you, Carrots. Come on, I really could use a nice cup of coffee right now."

"Ooh yeah, me too!"

Both Nick and Judy ordered their coffees without any real issue. However, when it came to actually paying for them, Judy was admittedly a little wary, remembering the first time that they met over at Jumbeaux's.

Nick noticed the look Judy was giving him, but instead of doing what she expected him to do, she was pleasantly surprised to see him actually pull out a wallet.

"See, Fluff? I can pay for my own stuff when I want." said Nick playfully.

Nick pulled out a five dollar bill and paid for his own drink, picking it up once it was finished before taking a sip.

Although still a little curious as to the details behind Nick's sudden change in mannerisms, Judy decided to put it in the back of her mind. After paying for her own coffee, the two of them walked out of the store and sat down on a nearby bench.

After taking a sip and feeling the relief of being more awake, Judy turned towards Nick. However, Nick managed to beat her to the punch, as he began to speak.

"So…I see by the uniform that Bogo hasn't fired you yet, huh?"

It took Judy a few seconds for the question to register considering she was still a little flustered at getting beaten like that, but she eventually managed to pull herself together and reply.

"Well, my job isn't fully safe quite yet."

"What do you mean?" asked Nick, slightly confused by Judy's wording.

"The chief's testing me. I'm supposed to solve this one case that even the rest of the precinct had trouble with. If I can't, I'm fired." she said, her expression faltering a bit at the mention of the possibility of her firing.

"Wow…that's pretty terrible." said Nick, unable to think of anything else to comfort Judy.

"Thanks, Nick. You're a doll." said Judy sarcastically.

"That's what I'm here for."

Judy rolled her eyes before deciding to quickly change the subject.

"Anyway, enough about me. What have you been up to since last night?"

Nick sighed heavily before replying.

"Not a whole lot, unfortunately. I couldn't find Fin, so I decided to go ahead and get my phone replaced."

Nick pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed it to Judy, who lightly whistled when she saw the fancy new look of it.

"I managed to talk them into giving me a discount because they misled me about the whole waterproof thing. They were pretty stubborn, though."

"Well, I imagine they were nothing compared to a silver-tongued fox like you, am I right?"

"That would be correct." said Nick, taking another sip, a smug look once again on his muzzle.

The two of them fell silent, sipping their coffees. Nick was aimlessly staring out in space, leaning back in his seat as he placed his arm along the backrest of the bench.

As for Judy, she was trying to figure out the best way to bring up the oryx in the picture still tucked inside the case file under her arm.

However, being the perceptive fox that he was, Nick noticed the folder and raised a questioning eyebrow, causing Judy to sigh heavily when she realized that she didn't have a great way of starting the conversation. Still, she was going to try her best.

"Remember when you mentioned yesterday about knowing an oryx that looked almost like the driver that brought us back here from Tundratown?"

"Yeah. What's your point?"

Instead of answering, Judy pulled out the case file and flipped it open, showing Nick the picture.

"Chief Bogo's probably not going to be happy with me showing a case file to a civilian, but I think this is the only way."

As Nick took a look at the file, an unnerved look on his face thanks to the graphic image, Judy pointed towards the picture, specifically where the oryx was located.

"Is there a chance that you know who this is? He might be very important to this case."

Nick paused, not speaking as he stared intently at the oryx in the picture. However, just when it seemed to Judy like she made a mistake in thinking the oryx was related, Nick's sudden change in expression made her think that she might just have something.

"Oh yeah, I think it might be him! It's a little hard to tell, though. Why is the picture so grainy?" he asked.

"It's the feed from one of the cameras near the crime scene. They're usually not very good quality, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" said Nick, their escapades in city hall coming back to him. "They really should spring for some high definition cameras."

"Anyway, what do you think? Is it him?" said Judy, ignoring Nick's offhanded comment.

"Well, as I've said before, there's not a whole lot of ways that you can differentiate between one oryx and another."

"Don't I know it." said Judy under her breath, her neighbors coming to mind despite the difference in species.

"Anyway, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it is most likely him."

"Awesome! Do you know where I can find him? I really need to talk to him."

Nick really wanted to point out to Judy how obvious it was considering what she'd already said, but he decided to be nice for once and remain silent.

"Sure, I know where he is. Only problem is that he's on the other side of town."

Judy's expression faltered when she realized just how long they were probably going to have to walk.

"That's going to take us all day to walk!"

Nick admittedly had a snarky comment ready to go, but his ears perked up when he heard Judy mention walking, his interest piqued.

"Wait, didn't you have that dinky little cart I saw you in yesterday? Why don't we use that?" he said.

Nick didn't really seem enthusiastic about the idea of riding in the cart, knowing that even though he was still pretty small like most foxes, the cart was more built for Judy's sake than anything, and she was way smaller than he was. Still, if it meant helping her out, he would have kept his mouth shut about it.

"I would, but Chief Bogo was kind of mad at me for ditching it on that street corner. I don't want to risk taking it out again and letting something else happen to it."

Nick inwardly sighed, relieved that he didn't have to squeeze himself into that clown car.

"Well…what about an actual police car? Wouldn't that be nice to drive around?" he asked, looking excited at the prospect of driving around in those souped-up looking cars he spotted around town every so often.

Judy also looked pretty excited at the prospect as well. Unfortunately, her expression soon fell when she realized something else important.

"I wish. I didn't really ask, though. Besides, I'm technically on probation. I doubt they'd be happy if I tried to take one of the cruisers when I'm not even officially a full-on cop."

Even though Nick was a little put off by Judy putting herself down, he did admit to himself that there wasn't really any way to convince her otherwise, especially since what she said was technically true.

"So now what? We don't have anything to drive, and I really don't have the time to walk all the way there." said Judy, looking despondent.

Nick was about to answer, when he suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Standing up from the bench, he set his coffee cup on the seat before shielding his eyes with his paw, trying to see what it was he noticed.

"Nick? Something up?" asked Judy, nervously glancing over at his forgotten coffee cup and hoping it doesn't fall over.

"Wait a second…I recognize that van more than anything." he said quietly.

Judy's ears managed to catch most of what Nick said, and her head swiveled in the general direction of where Nick was looking to find an eerily familiar-looking van.

However, before she could actually process how it was so familiar, Nick quickly began rushing over, quickly stopping to face Judy after a few steps.

"Wait here. I'll be right back."

Judy admittedly wanted to just ignore Nick's order and follow him, knowing that was in fact Finnick's van they were both looking at, but then she noticed the tense look on Nick's face when he glanced back towards her, and she reluctantly decided to stay where she was, keeping an eye on Nick's cup to make sure it doesn't spill while watching the inevitable scene that was about to unfold in front of her.

Silently, Judy watched as Nick knocked on the back door of the van, only to be surprised when she saw a baseball bat poking out of the doorway.

Her eyes widening, she briefly considered rushing over and helping him out, but she could see Nick roughly pulling Finnick out of the van, disarming him before tossing the bat into the front.

Even with her sensitive ears, Judy could not hear what the two of them were saying thanks to all the noise going on around her, but she could tell that something was going on considering how animated the two of them were getting.

It even got to the point where Nick ended up grabbing Finnick by the shirt collar, the black and red fabric bunched up in his paw as he lifted the smaller fox so that they were eye-to-eye. Judy was about ready to intervene once more, considering she had a feeling that this was going to happen after how Nick was speaking last night, but thankfully it didn't get any worse than that, which came as a relief to her.

Eventually, Nick returned to where Judy was sitting, Finnick looking incredibly surly as he followed closely behind.

"Good news, Fluff!" he said, Judy quickly snatching Nick's coffee cup before the fox ended up sitting on it in his haste to get back on the bench.

"I'm listening."

Nick gestured towards Finnick as he began speaking, the smaller fox giving Nick the darkest glare he could muster.

"Our friend Finnick here has graciously agreed to drive us to your witness's house."

"Really?" said Judy, looking unimpressed. "He doesn't look too gracious right now."

"Well…let's just say this is a bit of a punishment for ditching us back in Tundratown yesterday."

At this, he gave a dirty look to Finnick, who sulked in response.

As for Judy, she seemed a little weirded out by the proceedings in front of her, but she was more than willing to take the opportunity that was given to her. After handing Nick's coffee over to him, the fox gladly grabbing it and taking a sip, she quickly hopped off of the bench, turning back towards Nick.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Nick admittedly wanted to take a few minutes to rest, having just sat back down, but Judy's eagerness turned out to be pretty infectious, so after a few seconds, he reluctantly pulled himself off of the bench as well.

"You know, you're a jerk, Nick." said Finnick as he followed the two of them back to the van.

"Love you too, Fin."


	12. Chapter 12

Most of the drive over to the oryx's house turned out to be in complete silence. Finnick was concentrating on driving, although both Nick and Judy could tell that he was still pretty angry that he was being forced to chauffer them around again.

Nick, meanwhile, was busy keeping an eye out for where the house actually was, considering he was the only one to have ever visited it before. However, his attention wasn't only on the road ahead, as he kept glancing over at Judy, who was once again sitting next to him in the same seat. This time, though, her expression was furrowed, her nose twitching every so often as she was buried in the case file she still had on paw.

"You do know that you're going to go cross eyed if you stare at that folder that closely, right?"

Judy nearly jumped, her ears way too used to the silence that had initially pervaded throughout the van.

"What? Oh…sorry about that." she said, chuckling awkwardly as she looked up at the fox next to her.

"Seriously though, what are you trying to get out of reading that file, anyway? I don't even know what's in there besides that picture, and even I can tell it's pretty light on details."

"Well…" began Judy, admittedly unsure herself at first. "I'm just trying to take a closer look at the picture to see if there was anything I missed."

"Ah, well as I've said, you're going to strain your eyes if you're not careful, especially with a picture of that kind of quality."

"Thanks, mom." said Judy sarcastically, her quip earning her a look and a half-smile from Nick.

"Good, now you're learning to lighten up a bit."

This random comment ended up getting Nick a curious look from Judy.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Nick paused, slightly caught off guard by the sudden questioning, but he quickly managed to get himself back on track.

"Well…" he said, spinning his paw around in a circle as he tried to come up with a good explanation. "I'm not saying that it's a bad thing for someone to be dedicated as they are to their job as you can be. I'm not going to lie, though. You can be a bit of a tightwad sometimes."

Even though Nick was fully expecting the retaliation, it still hurt quite a bit when Judy punched him in the arm again, an indignant look on her face. As Nick shook out his arm to relieve the pain, Judy spoke up.

"I am not a tightwad!"

"Sure you are." said Nick disbelievingly. "And I'm the king of England."

Judy immediately groaned in annoyance, but there wasn't really a good comeback that she could think of, so she just decided to go with the first thing she could think of.

"You are such a jerk sometimes, Nick."

"At least someone agrees with me." said Finnick, rolling his eyes before returning his focus to the road.

"Well, that's not very nice, Fin."

"Do I really care what you think right now, Nick?"

Nick opened his muzzle to reply with a snarky remark, but before he could do so, he was silenced by a dark glare from the fennec fox, a stop light giving him the opportunity to point it right at the fox who forced him into this mess.

Unfortunately, Nick wasn't really fazed by the way Finnick was acting. Still, he decided that it probably wasn't the best idea to rile him up any further, so he quickly returned his focus to the road, and just in time, too.

"Oh, looks like we're almost here. Take a left and stop on the side of the road."

Finnick grumbled in protest, but he did as Nick asked and parked the van near the beginning of the street.

"You stay here. Carrots and I will talk to our friend inside." said Nick as him and Judy began inching their way out of the van.

"As if it was any different…" Finnick said, once again rolling his eyes.

However, Finnick's complaint fell on deaf ears, as the door was already closed, and Judy and Nick made their way up to the house.

Once they made it up to the right house, though, Nick quickly stepped in front of her before she could walk up and knock on the door.

"Hey, listen Fluff, I think it's best if you let me start with the talking."

"Wh-I'm a police officer, Nick! It's kind of supposed to be part of my job to interview witnesses. Why can't I start off?" she said, slightly flabbergasted at the direction Nick was going in.

"Well, here's the thing. As you can imagine, my friend in there's not exactly on the up and up."

"Alright, what did he do?" asked Judy, sighing in exasperation.

"He sells bootleg DVD's, kind of like Duke Weaselton, but more subtle. I assume that someone at the station must have mentioned Duke?"

"Actually, no they haven't, but that's not important. Go on." she said, not wanting to mention the fact that she only heard of Duke's name straight from Nick's mouth.

"Oh…well anyway, the guy's pretty paranoid about cops. This is his third place of residence after the last two places booted him out after he got arrested."

Judy was admittedly a little disappointed that things were going this way, but she was pretty sure that Nick was only looking out for her well-being, so she reluctantly decided to go along with Nick's suggestion.

"Alright, if you think it's best. What is the guy's name, anyway? I don't really want to be fishing around for it while I'm in the middle of asking him questions."

Nick ended up giving Judy a curious look.

"You're not going to use it to get him arrested again, aren't you? I don't think he'll like me anymore if I get his butt sent to jail."

"No, I won't." huffed Judy.

"Alright then. His name's Buck Wildman."

Judy immediately gave Nick a disbelieving look, not buying his name for a second.

"Okay, okay. It's not his real name, it's a pseudonym he goes under. I can't tell you what his real name is, though."

"Why not?"

"Well…let's just say he knows how to use those horns…all too well."

Unfortunately, Judy didn't exactly manage to catch the meaning behind Nick's vague explanation, but they were already wasting enough time standing outside, so she quickly jogged up to the door and knocked, Nick joining her a few seconds later after a slightly slower saunter.

After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened, but before Judy could say anything, Nick stepped forwards, taking charge of the situation.

"Buck! How's it going, buddy?" he said, his arms spread wide and a smile on his face.

"What do you want, Nick?" asked Buck, an unimpressed look on his face.

Nick recoiled at bit at Buck's tone in his greeting, but he managed to remain collected as he continued speaking.

"Well, that's not very nice. Don't you miss your old pal Nick?"

"Nope."

Nick's expression faltered at that moment, but before he could actually try and convince Buck to change his attitude, the oryx spoke up instead.

"Alright, I'm getting sick of this. Tell me what you want or I'm shutting this door in your face right now."

Instead of answering, Nick stepped to the side, allowing Judy to step forwards and take charge.

"Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD." she said.

However, before she could get any further, Buck immediately recoiled, pointing an accusing hoof.

"Oh, I knew that something was up! I can't believe you, Nick…leading the cops right to my house!"

"Hold on, sir. I promise, I'm not going to arrest you. All I want is to ask some questions." said Judy, holding her paws up in an attempt to placate the agitated oryx, but Buck was barely even listening at this point.

"Buck, stop! Seriously, I would never do this kind of thing to you!" yelled Nick over Buck's ranting.

Somehow, this ended up quieting Buck down some, but to both Nick and Judy's surprise, Buck quickly slammed the door in their faces.

Caught off guard, the two of them stared at the closed door in their faces for a few seconds before Judy looked over towards Nick, who had a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, that was rude." she said, huffing.

Nick ignored Judy's comment in favor of staring at the door, wondering just what happened to make Buck that jumpy.

"That's strange."

"What is?" asked Judy, her interest piqued.

"I've never seen Buck act this way. I mean, sure, he's always been incredibly paranoid about cops, as I've told you about, but he's never been this over the top."

Both Nick and Judy paused as they thought about the reasoning behind the way Buck was acting. They didn't get much of a chance to do so, though, because after a few seconds, the door suddenly opened and Judy's eyes widened in shock when she saw what was in Buck's hoof.

"Take cover!"

Judy grabbed Nick, and with a surprising amount of strength for someone her size pushed Nick down the stairs on to the sidewalk.

As Nick quickly took cover against the side of the house's porch, Judy immediately formulated a plan of attack, knowing that it wasn't going to be long before the gun that Buck had in his hoof was going to be pointed at her, which appeared to be a Desert Eagle. Needless to say, the vest that she was wearing probably wasn't going to do much against a gun with that kind of power.

Rolling out of the way, Judy lashed out with a sweep kick, sending Buck off of his feet. She hoped that this would lead to the oryx being disarmed, but unfortunately this wasn't the case, as Buck was able to hold on to it.

Thankfully, though, this stunned Buck long enough for Judy to take cover herself, planting herself on the opposite side of the steps as Nick.

Once she was safely in cover, Judy reached down towards her side, only to mentally kick herself when she realized that she forgot to grab a tranquilizer gun in her haste to get the case moving.

Groaning in annoyance, Judy knew that she had to try and take this guy down another way, so after creeping as far as she could to the edge of her cover (nearly getting her ear blown off in the process as a 50 cal bullet whizzed by), she slowly let out a breath, hoping that her negotiating skills were still up to snuff after academy.

"Sir, please put the gun down and come quietly! I told you, we're not going to hurt you!"

Judy peeked out of her cover, attempting to see if she'd managed to convince Buck, but she was quickly forced to jump back into cover as another bullet flew past her, Buck launching into another long-winded rant about the police as he waved the Desert Eagle around.

"This isn't working!" Judy hissed, more to herself than anything considering Buck was bellowing at this point.

However, to her surprise, when she looked over towards where Nick was, she found that the fox was crawling on all fours, heading towards the edge of the house.

"Nick, what are you doing?" hissed Judy once more, narrowly ducking away from another shot.

Unfortunately, by the time that she spoke up, Nick had already disappeared around the corner, his tail the only thing left that she could still see.

Judy couldn't help but be worried as she wondered what exactly Nick had in mind. She really wanted to just chase Nick down and pull him back to the porch for his own safety, but there was no way that she was going to keep up with him without completely exposing herself, so she reluctantly decided just to focus on keeping Buck distracted.

"I've called for backup, Buck! The ZPD is going to be here any minute, and your living arrangements aren't going to be the only problem you're going to face."

Of course, she was completely bluffing, considering she wasn't anywhere near a police scanner to call in to Clawhauser, but the important thing was that Buck didn't know that.

Thankfully, Buck appeared to fall for the bluff, but not in the way that she expected, as the implications only agitated the oryx even further.

Judy was forced to duck further behind her cover as the shots began ringing out at a quicker pace, but luckily they soon came to a stop. As Judy peeked out to check what was going on, though, she was surprised to find out what was transpiring in front of her.

Nick had his arms wrapped around Buck's neck, trying desperately to reach for his gun and remove it from his hoof. Buck was putting up a fight, though, struggling to reach behind him and pull Nick off.

Judy was admittedly a little stunned at first to see what Nick was trying to do, but she quickly managed to pull herself together and rush forwards, not wanting to wait until Buck gets the idea to use his gun.

By the time she actually managed to make it, though, Nick had already managed to get his paw around the hoof that was carrying the gun, and quickly thinking, unsheathed his claws.

"Sorry, buddy." he quickly apologized before digging into the hoof as deep as he could with his claws.

Thankfully, this did the trick, as Buck successfully dropped the gun. Unfortunately, the shock of landing on the ground ended up making it go off one more time, but luckily no one was hit, as the bullet sailed harmlessly past Judy, although it still came pretty close.

After taking a few seconds to register how close the bullet came to hitting her, Judy rushed forwards once more just as Nick managed to get his arms around Buck's throat, intending to choke him out. Using her impressive leg strength, she hopped up off of the ground, flying towards Buck and successfully catching the oryx in the chest with a textbook dropkick.

This ended up knocking Buck over. Unfortunately, it also had the side effect of Nick banging his head into the front door as they fell against it, but thankfully he was able to keep his grip on Buck's throat.

After a few seconds of struggling to remove Nick's arms from around his throat, Buck finally passed out, his thin frame preventing him from lasting very long in the sleeper hold.

Once Buck was finally fully out cold, Nick finally released his hold, rolling the unconscious oryx off of him as Judy walked up, breathing lightly as she helped the fox up to his feet.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm alright." he said, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Though I'm probably gonna end up having a wicked headache after banging my head into that door later."

"Sorry about that." she said.

"It's fine. So…what do we do about him?" he asked, gesturing towards Buck on the ground next to him.

"Well, I'm going to have to take him in for attempted murder. I doubt he has a license for that gun, either, so there's that. Heck, I think we could use this as an opportunity to get him to answer some questions without him trying to kill us."

"I would definitely agree with that sentiment." commented Nick.

After pausing for a few seconds to take a look at the unconscious Buck, Judy walked over to the oryx's feet, reaching down to grab them.

"Here, help me carry him over to the van."

Although Nick was slightly caught off guard by what she was asking, he willingly walked over to Buck's other side, wrapping his paws under Buck's armpits as he lifted him up off of the ground. He was doing most of the heavy lifting, but he wasn't really one to complain much, thankfully.

As the two of them made their way to the van, Judy couldn't help but comment on what she had seen out of the fox.

"So Nick, where did you go, anyway? I was kind of worried when you disappeared around the house."

"Oh, I just snuck in through the back door. This guy left it unlocked for some strange reason." he said, gesturing with his face towards the unconscious Buck in his arms.

Judy made an impressed noise through the effort of carrying the surprisingly heavy oryx.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, it was a bit reckless."

"But it worked out in the end!" said Nick defensively.

"And I'm grateful for that! Honest! Look, I know you're probably still thinking about whether to join the force or not, right?"

Nick nodded, although he still looked a little perturbed by Judy's assessment.

"Things aren't going to work out the way they did back there all the time. Doing something crazy like that more often than not would only end up with you getting yourself shot."

Judy sighed, pausing for a few seconds before continuing on.

"All I'm asking is that you think your options through before acting, okay?"

"Yeah, I understand." said Nick.

At first, Judy was unsure if Nick was being truly honest, but when she saw the sincere look on the fox's face, she acquiesced, smiling.

"That was a pretty good sleeper hold, though. Where'd you learn that?"

"Oh, Fin convinced me to watch some wrestling one time. Not a big fan, but you can learn some things."

Judy couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the sheer absurdity of Nick's answer.

"Well, if you decide to join us, maybe the academy could make you an even better fighter."

"We'll see about that." said Nick, although he did look a little contemplative.


	13. Chapter 13

I finally managed to get my hands on a Blu-Ray copy of Zootopia recently, so I think to celebrate, here's another chapter for you guys. Enjoy!

* * *

"What in the hell is this?"

Finnick stood outside of his van, stunned as Nick and Judy carried the still as of yet unconscious body of Buck Wildman.

"Well…let's just say things fell apart a bit with Buck."

"Explain please." said Finnick, not interested in being given the runaround.

"He pulled a gun out on us. Does that make you happy?" said Judy, exasperated.

She didn't actually get to hear Finnick's answer, though, as she soon realized after speaking that she forgot to grab the most important thing.

"Oh shoot! I'll be right back. I've got to go grab the gun for evidence!"

Judy immediately dropped Buck's legs, causing Nick to stumble a bit as he tried to adjust for the sudden increase in weight.

"Carrots, wait! I can't carry him by myself!"

Unfortunately, Judy was either too far away to hear or was ignoring him in favor of getting back to Buck's house, so after letting out a heavy sigh, he turned towards Finnick, about ready to ask him to help.

"Let me just stop you right there, Nick, and tell you that you can carry him yourself. I'm not getting involved in this."

Nick quietly fumed as he watched Finnick hop back into the van and close the door. The fox ended up having to drag Buck's body around to get to the back of the van, the oryx's feet bouncing along the pavement as Nick hoped that he wouldn't be mad whenever he woke up.

After finally making it to the rear of the van, Nick set Buck down before pulling the doors open, dragging the surprisingly heavy oryx off of the curb and into the rear of the vehicle.

Finally, once Buck was fully inside the van, Nick shut the doors in front of him just in time to see Judy return with the gun Buck had, trying her best not to fully grab it and leave fingerprints behind, making things harder for her.

"Well thank you for joining us again, Carrots. You know, it would've been nice to have had some assistance carrying Buck into the van." said Nick, an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Nick. I was so wrapped up in dealing with him that I forgot about grabbing his gun to use for evidence." said Judy honestly.

Nick wasn't so sure about Judy's earnestness, though; as he spent a few moments staring her down to see if her expression faltered. Thankfully, Judy remained steadfast, and Nick reluctantly relented.

"Alright, I understand. Next time, save the retrieval for after we deal with things like these, alright?"

Judy was admittedly a little intrigued at Nick's implication of there being a next time, but she filed that feeling in the back of her mind, preferring instead to focus on getting Buck back to the station before he woke up.

"Of course. Now come on. I really should be getting Buck back to the station and in cuffs before he causes any more trouble."

As Nick and Judy made their way to the passenger side door, Nick couldn't help but point something out that he found pretty funny.

"You know Carrots, I'm surprised that you didn't have any handcuffs on you. You seemed so eager to use them yesterday."

"Ha ha, very funny Slick. Now let's go!" said Judy, giving Nick a light shove towards the door.

* * *

When Finnick's van finally pulled up near Precinct One, Judy was fully expecting Finnick to park nearby so that they wouldn't have much of a problem transferring Buck into the station. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"So…why are we parking clear across the way again? It seems kind of counterproductive." commented Judy, earning her a look of annoyance from the fennec.

"Do you really expect me to just waltz into that station with the kind of record I have? Not happening, rabbit."

Judy shrugged, realizing that he did have a point. Thankfully, though, she had another option.

"How about you, Nick? Wanna help me carry ol' Bucky here in?" she asked.

She could tell that Nick didn't seem very enthusiastic about the idea either so she decided that, as much as she didn't want to, she was going to have to dial up the one thing she hated being called.

Lowering her ears so that they were behind her, Judy closed her eyes for a few seconds before they shot open, the rabbit officer making them as wide as she could manage in a textbook doe-eyed look.

Nick tried his best to resist the temptation, but it was to no avail, as the fox sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I'll help. Don't blame me if you get me arrested, though." he said, rolling his eyes.

"I've got no plans to. Besides, the water kind of messed up the recording device in my pen. I can't even understand anything when I try to play it."

As if to prove her honesty, Judy pulled out said carrot pen and hit the play button, Nick's eyes widening as he listened to the garbled mess that was originally his voice.

"Cheap piece of plastic." said Judy distastefully. "Good thing the pen still works, though, or I'd just throw it out."

"Heh, good thing…" said Nick, chuckling awkwardly.

The two of them fell silent for a few moments, unsure of where to go from here, but thankfully they were helped out by the third member of their party.

"Are you two done? I'm wasting gas here, and I think your friend here's waking up." said Finnick as he leaned over the driver's seat to check in the back.

Both Nick and Judy looked into the back of the van as well to find that Buck was indeed waking up.

"Oh cheese and crackers, we really have to get him in cuffs!"

"I'll keep him busy! You run in and get a pair!" said Nick, not interested in having to deal with a most likely pissed off Buck.

Once Judy exited the vehicle and closed the door behind her, Nick climbed out of the seat as well, hopping between the two front seats into the rear.

Just as Buck was starting to pick himself up, putting a hoof to his head to shake out the cobwebs, Nick jumped on top of him, pinning him back down to the floor of the van.

"Hey, what the heck, Nick? Where did you two take me?"

"Welcome to Precinct One, Buck. You're going in for attempted murder and possession of a deadly weapon. Once my partner gets back, we're taking you in."

"Wow Nick, you sounded almost like a cop there. You were almost a step away from reading them their rights!"

"Not helping, Fin!" said Nick, giving the fennec a look as he struggled to keep Buck under control.

The oryx was putting up a hell of a fight, though. It took almost all of Nick's willpower just to keep Buck from lifting his head and exposing his horns.

Thankfully, though, the back doors soon flew open, revealing Judy as she immediately hopped inside.

"Give me your hooves, now!" Judy yelled, trying to force Buck into compliance.

Unfortunately, all of the shaking ended up knocking the gun off of the center console and between the seats. While it did make getting to it a little difficult, this didn't stop Buck, as the oryx gained a new sense of vigor, forcing both Nick and Judy to double team him to keep him down.

Eventually, though, the team effort between the two allowed Judy to get handcuffs on Buck, and she quickly picked him up by the cuff chain.

"Good work, Nick. Looks like we make a good team." she said, a little winded from the struggle.

Nick admittedly wasn't really thinking about that fact, considering he was too busy trying to keep Buck away from the gun, but he could see that Judy did have a point.

"I guess we are."

Nick quickly went over to the console and grabbed the gun, stuffing it down the back of his pants before joining Judy outside the van.

As Nick and Judy led Buck towards the front doors of the precinct, Nick couldn't help but make a snide comment, remembering exactly what had happened the last time they'd tried this.

"You know, it's good to see you finally managed to figure out that the cuffs only go on the perp's paws. Few more lessons like that and you'll be a real cop in no time!"

Predictably, this earned him a hard elbow in the side, and while Nick was expecting this to happen, it still hurt quite a bit.

"Police brutality!" he said in a pained whisper, rubbing his side with his free hand.

Judy ignored him, however, knowing that she got what she wanted out of that exchange.

* * *

Once Judy and Nick managed to make their way inside the precinct, the two of them made their way over to the front desk, Judy intending to check in with Clawhauser.

However, while the cheetah was indeed there, she was also greeted with the none too happy look of Chief Bogo, standing right off to the side as he took in the sight of the two of them.

"Oh! Uh…hi, chief. I've got us a witness for the murder case you've got me on." said Judy, chuckling nervously.

Bogo paused, his tone clipped as he tried his best to keep his blood pressure down.

"Alright, so that answers my question of why you were in such a hurry to get a pair of paw cuffs. Now…please explain to me why this witness is in cuffs in the first place."

"Well, sir, here's the thing. I don't know if you're aware of Buck Wildman or not."

"I am…only too well." said Bogo, looking upwards in exasperation.

"I was trying to meet up with him to ask him some questions about what he saw, and he pulled a gun out on us. Thankfully, we managed to take him down and knock him out." she said, a smile on her face as she recounted her moment of bravery.

However, instead of sounding impressed, Bogo had a hoof on his face, his nose pinched as the cape buffalo felt a headache coming on.

"So let me get this straight. You apparently found us a witness that no one else who was on this case managed to find."

"Yes sir. He was in the crime scene photo."

"Alright." said Bogo, although he did look pretty pained. "So, you then went to his house, unarmed and without backup, and took down a DVD bootlegger brandishing a gun."

"Yes sir. I had help, though."

Judy didn't actually need to show who that person was, though, as Bogo immediately turned towards Nick, assuming (correctly) that he was the one she was talking about.

"Well, well. Nicholas Wilde. I'm surprised to see you finally deciding to change your ways."

"Let's not call it like that quite yet, Chief. Carrots here kind of roped me into this."

Bogo clearly didn't believe Nick's feeble excuse, but he decided just to move on before he received an aneurysm from what was happening in front of him.

"Where's the gun?"

"Right back here, Chief." said Nick, gesturing with a clawed fingertip towards the back of his pants where the gun still was.

Bogo meanwhile was internally debating which was worse, Nick having the gun in a place where he could easily blow his own butt off, or just having the gun down his pants in the first place.

Filing that thought in the back of his mind, Bogo glared at Nick to prevent the fox from simply pulling the gun out of his pants to hand over.

"Clawhauser!"

Bogo could still hear the rustle of a box of donuts even though he wasn't actually looking at the desk behind him.

"Yes, Chief?" asked Clawhauser, his mouth most likely still full of donut due to the cheetah's muffled tone.

Bogo sighed heavily.

"Go find me an evidence bag. We need to file this gun away as soon as possible before these two get their fingerprints all over it."

"Well, here's the thing…" said Judy before being quickly interrupted by a hoof from Bogo.

"I don't want to hear it, Hopps. Take him to a holding cell. We'll interrogate him later, once I get hold of the detectives."

"But sir, wouldn't it be faster if I just interrogate him?"

"That is not your job, Hopps. Your job is to arrest the criminals…not interview them."

Judy was prepared to continue to argue her case, but she was quickly silenced with a glare from the chief.

"I'll be in my office. Please do not bother me unless it's an emergency." said Bogo shortly, not waiting for an answer as he headed for a stairway.

As for Judy and Nick, the former was about ready to start leading Buck towards where the holding cells were, but before she could do so, Nick spoke up.

"Hang on a sec, Carrots."

"What? Why? I kind of need to get him into a cell before the chief has my hide." said Judy, gesturing with an elbow towards Buck, who glared at her.

"We've got to wait for that Clawhauser guy, remember?" said Nick, turning his torso around to show the gun still stuck in his pants untouched.

Judy paused for a few moments, considering if she should wait for Clawhauser to return so that Buck could be fully processed. However, she pretty quickly decided against it when Buck gave a pretty hard shake to try and free himself from Judy's grip.

"Tell you what, Nick. I'll go drop off Buck in a holding cell and meet you back here. After that, we'll figure out what to do from there, alright?"

"Sounds good." said Nick, lazily saluting as he put his paws in his front pockets as he waited for Clawhauser to return.

Thankfully, just as Judy led Buck into the hallway where the holding cells were located, Nick was met with the severely out of breath face of Benjamin Clawhauser, as the cheetah had gloves on while he brandished the evidence bag.

"Sorry…it took me so long. There are…a lot of stairs…" said Clawhauser, breathing heavily as he had his paws on his knees.

"Geez Clawhauser, did you run down all of those steps?" asked Nick, unable to resist smiling a bit as he watched the cheetah dry heave.

"I didn't…want to…make Chief…Bogo…mad."

Thankfully, Nick remained tactful, choosing not to comment on Clawhauser's need to keep Bogo happy.

Once Clawhauser gulped in enough air, he quickly made his way over behind Nick, carefully pulling the gun out of his pants (which made Nick shiver a bit thanks to the cold temperature inside the precinct cooling the metal down) and slipped it inside the bag, sealing it with a claw.

"Thank you for that. This should help us out with him." he said.

However, before he was about to make his way back down to Evidence, Nick suddenly stopped him with a paw in his surprisingly soft chest.

"You sure you want to be running back down there? Any more laps and you'd be losing some of that poundage." he said, giving Clawhauser a little poke as he spoke.

"Oh, I appreciate the concern, but I'm gonna walk this time. Thank you, though." he said, giving Nick an 'oh, you' hand wave before heading back down into the depths of the precinct.

Nick shrugged, figuring it was best not to pry. He only needed to wait a few more minutes before Judy returned, now without Buck causing trouble by her side. However, instead of being his jovial self like he usually was, Nick was a little more serious as he spoke to her once she rejoined him.

"You know, I've been thinking."

"About what?" Judy asked, curious.

"I was in fact listening when Chief Buffalo Butt was chewing you out for asking about interviewing Buck, and I really could see what you meant about the way everyone was treating you. It sucked, to be really honest."

"Um…thanks for understanding, but I don't see what this has to do with anything."

"Well, what I'm saying is that if you really want to get anywhere with solving this case and saving your job, I think you need to straddle the line a bit between following the law and breaking it. It's like what I do. I bend the rules, but I don't break them."

"I still don't follow." said Judy, confused.

"You know, this is totally not helping you break the whole dumb bunny stereotype here."

Judy remained silent, intrigued with what Nick had in mind. However, she did give him a pretty dark glare for the dumb bunny comment.

As for Nick himself, he sighed, realizing that he was just going to have to go out and say it.

"I think you should probably try and go talk to Buck before those detectives get their hands on him."


	14. Chapter 14

Judy stared at Nick, stunned as she registered what he was just saying.

"Are you serious? I can't do that! I'd get fired if I defied orders like that!"

"And you'd never get anywhere with this case if you leave it up to the detectives to interrogate Buck. I mean, seriously! I specifically remember you mentioning just how badly the others have been treating you since you've started here. Who knows if they'd even share any of the important details they manage to get out of him?"

Judy watched Nick gesticulating wildly as he argued his point, trying desperately to convince her law-abiding self that it was the only way that she would be able to successfully find the culprit and save her job. However, the only real prevailing thought that was going through her mind at the moment was how much it wasn't worth it to go against orders to save her job if it was going to cost her job anyway.

As soon as Nick was finished explaining himself (the only way she could tell in her half-aware state was when he returned his arms to his sides), she was about ready to shake her head and show that she wasn't ready to skirt over the line, but thankfully Nick managed to read the expression on her face and take action.

Nick's paws shot out, grabbing Judy's paws in each of his as he held them out in front of her, an earnest look on his muzzle as he tried his best to convince her.

"Judy, look at me."

It didn't happen immediately, but Judy eventually managed to pull her head up and look Nick straight in the eye, the rabbit almost being on the verge of tears thanks to the amount of stress she was going through trying to decide. The fact that he once again referred to her by her actual name came as a surprise to her as well.

"You can't seriously keep thinking that doing things by the book is going to get you anywhere. I mean, just look at what I've been doing! I've been skirting the line between following the law and breaking it for years, and I've been making money paw and foot. If I tried to open a legit business, there's no way I would be able to make that kind of money, even if I wasn't a predator!"

Judy was admittedly a little bit surprised that Nick would have pulled out the fact that he was a predator to prove a point, but she could see that the fox still had a pretty good point even without that fact. Besides, she'd already done a fair share of illegal stuff already, getting involved with the mob being one of the biggest things.

Nick noticed Judy look at the floor for a few seconds before she immediately wrapped her arms around him, trying her best not to cry as she buried her face into Nick's shirt.

Although caught off guard for a moment, Nick soon realized what was going on and relaxed, resting one of his paws on Judy's shoulder as his other paw gently brushed along her head and down her ears.

"Oh, you bunnies. So emotional." he said warmly.

The two of them continued to embrace for a few moments before finally separating just as Clawhauser finally returned from his sojourn.

However, Clawhauser just managed to notice the two hugging just as he opened the door and, ever the sap, couldn't resist commenting on it.

"O. M. Goodness. That is sooo adorable." he said, nearly squeeing as he regarded the two, who froze when they heard what he said.

"Ben, it's not what you think." said Judy, trying her best to stamp down the blush that was creeping up on her cheeks.

"Really? Then what's with his wet shirt? And what about your eyes? I can see how watery they are right now."

As Judy hurriedly wiped her eyes, Nick noticed that there was in fact a wet stain on his shirt from where Judy had her face buried in it. He quickly crossed his arms over the stain in an attempt to cover it up, but thankfully Judy was able to quickly come up with an excuse to cover things up.

"Sorry about that, Ben. I'm just…a little stressed out right now. The case I'm on is really difficult, and I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to solve it before I run out of time. Nick here was just…giving me a shoulder to cry on?" she said, admittedly saying the first thing that came to her mind.

Clawhauser couldn't resist 'aww'-ing as Judy made her excuse, which turned out to be the truth. The cheetah didn't know that, though. Smiling, the cheetah made his way back over to the desk, finally happy to get a chance to sit down after taking a few laps up and down the stairs.

Judy and Nick, meanwhile, took the chance to get out of the lobby before things got even more awkward, and Nick couldn't help but be noticeably surprised as he watched Judy lead him to the holding cells. Thankfully, though, Nick decided to have a little tact for once and not comment on this new side of her.

However, he couldn't resist making an entirely different comment as the two of them walked through the hallway.

"A shoulder to cry on? Really, Fluff?" he asked, a sly smile on his muzzle.

"Hey, it was the best way I could think of to get Ben off of our backs. I'd like to see you do better!" she said quietly as she knew she was going to have to be careful not to get caught.

Nick, meanwhile, decided that it was best for him not to rile Judy up by calling her out on asking him to do better, so he sighed and followed Judy once more after pausing for a few seconds to collect his thoughts.

* * *

After a few more twists and turns, Nick and Judy found themselves in front of corridor where the holding cells were kept.

Nick could clearly hear Judy slowly breathe in and out, no doubt steeling herself for doing something that she never thought she'd do when she decided she wanted to be a cop.

Eventually, after a few more seconds, Judy was finally ready to go, and she turned towards Nick.

"Come on. He's this way."

Nick, however, was slightly puzzled as he thought about what Judy had just said.

"You sure, Fluff? I'm technically not supposed to be back here. I doubt that your friends would be happy if they saw me riling up the guys in there." he said, gesturing towards the cells.

Judy sighed, knowing exactly what her answer was, but not exactly comfortable with being upfront about it.

"I need your help, Nick. I can't do this by myself."

Nick paused, completely flabbergasted by Judy's sudden confession.

"Well. I certainly didn't expect that."

"I'm being honest here. We've been through a lot together since I met you yesterday. I know that you're probably not so comfortable with idea, but I think that you're more than capable of doing something with your life. Heck, I know you are, really."

Nick sat there, stunned as he registered the frankly massive compliment that Judy gave him.

"Wow…thanks, Carrots."

"You're welcome, Slick. Now, do you still want to hang out here, or are you going to come in and help me ask Buck some questions?"

Nick paused for a few moments to consider how best to answer that question, but there was one thought that was running through his mind.

"Is this getting me back for convincing you to come back here in the first place? It really feels like it is."

"Maybe…" said Judy, looking somewhat innocent as she spoke.

"Alright, fine. I'll come with you. I think I should probably be a lookout as well. We've got to make sure that no one catches you doing something you're not supposed to, right?"

"I suppose that's true." said Judy, although she did look a little reluctant knowing that Nick would have his attention divided between two fronts.

"Sounds good. Let's go." he said, and the two of them made their way into the corridor.

Thankfully, there were no other police officers around, but there was one thing that surprised Nick more than anything.

"There's only two animals here?"

Indeed, there were in fact only two animals occupying the cells, despite the fact that there were at least five or so spread out around the corridor.

"Well, yeah." said Judy. "It's been kind of a slow week in terms of arrests. At least, that's what I've heard."

Nick was admittedly a little puzzled by Judy's flippant tone, but as he was about to shrug and move on from the subject, he realized that he recognized the other animal that was occupying a cell besides Buck.

"Duke Weselton. Well, isn't this just a pleasant surprise."

The occupant of the cell immediately shot forwards, grasping at the bars as he revealed himself to be a small weasel, his eyes wild as Judy noticed that all he had on him was a pair of jeans and a wifebeater.

"I've told you before a hundred times, Wilde! My name is Weaselton!" said Duke, giving Nick the angriest look he could muster.

"Whatever you say, Duke. Now, what would a fine gentleman like yourself be doing stuck inside this cell?" asked Nick, genuinely curious.

Duke looked like he was way less than interested in divulging the reason behind his presence, but after some silent prodding from Nick, he figured there was no real point in keeping it a secret.

"Alright! It's for selling bootleg DVDs, okay? I figured that there wasn't anything wrong with it, but apparently that Wolford guy thought differently."

Judy was admittedly curious about the Duke dropping the name of one of her fellow officers, but before she could actually try to ask him about it, Nick stepped in.

"Well, I'd love to say that it's been real, Duke, but I'm afraid that's not the case. Anyway, have a good time, Weselton."

Nick playfully waved goodbye at Duke, who threw up his paws in anger before returning to his seat in the rear of the cell.

As Judy led Nick towards where she left Buck, Officer Wolford was still in her thoughts as she wondered what possessed the timber wolf to arrest him for something so minor. She didn't really get much of a chance to think about that fact considering they were almost at Buck's cell, so she decided to file that thought in the back of her mind and bring it up the next time she saw him.

When the two of them finally walked up to where Buck was being held, they stood a few feet away from the cell so that they couldn't be grabbed. As for Buck himself, the oryx slowly pulled himself up from his seat on the wooden bench before making his way up to the cell doors.

"Hello again, Buck. Glad to see you're not trying to shoot us anymore."

"What do you want now, Wilde?" asked Buck, looking none too happy at seeing the two animals that got him in this mess in the first place.

"Me?" asked Nick, pressing his paws against his chest in an act of mock indignation. "I don't need anything. Now, Officer Hopps here is a different story."

Judy glanced at Nick for a second, noticing the lack of use of his usual nickname for her, but Nick's expression remained blank, so she decided just to move on.

Moving forwards a few steps, Judy placed her paws behind her back and straightened her posture, making it look like she had an air of authority. Buck didn't really look impressed, though, but before the oryx could comment on that fact, Judy launched into her questioning.

"Now, we have reason to believe that you were one of the witnesses of the murder of Derek Chase a week ago. Is that correct?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Judy frowned, a little disappointed that Buck wasn't being cooperative, but she did have some clear evidence against Buck's claims.

Pulling out her phone, she pulled up the picture from the case file that she had taken during their journey back to the precinct after arresting Buck and showed it to the oryx, pointing out the specific part of the picture where he was.

"This is clearly an oryx in the corner of the picture, and my associate Nick has confirmed that it is in fact you. Now, would you care to rephrase that last answer?" she said, knowing that she's got Buck backed into a corner.

"And what makes you think that it's me? You do realize that animals of my species tend to look similar, right?"

Judy opened her mouth to try and argue against Buck's point, but Nick managed to speak up first.

"You do realize that I know everyone in this city, right? I really doubt that a simple fact like that is going to make me any less sure that the oryx in the photo is in fact you."

Nick spread his arms wide, a look on his face that dared Buck to try anything else to deny his presence at the scene. Thankfully, though, Buck knew he was caught, and the oryx sighed before confessing.

"Alright, I was there."

"Great! Now that we've got that detail out of the way, how about explaining to us what happened that day?"

Buck sighed heavily before finally launching into his explanation.

"Look, I was simply minding my own business that day. I was just trying to sell some of my products to some of the people walking by, when I heard a gunshot. I freaked out, and ran off. Simple as that."

"So, where were you selling this…product…you speak of?" asked Judy, uninterested in figuring out what this product was.

"Right by the alleyway where your friend got shot. I had all of my stuff hidden in the alleyway so that no one would steal it."

Nick and Judy traded looks before she quickly returned her focus to Buck.

"And you didn't see anything suspicious when you were in that alleyway?"

"Hey, the only time I was ever in that alleyway was when I first got there. I specifically remember that business was pretty poor that day, so I had no reason to go back."

"What about after the gunshots? What happened to your extra stock after that?"

"I had to ditch it. The police came through and blocked off the area for the crime scene."

"Well, that's a shame. This does bring up one question, though."

"And what's that?" asked Buck, glaring at Judy.

I've looked through the footage of the murder many times over the course of today, and I don't recall ever seeing any kind of table or anything. Can you explain to me how you managed to sell your things without a table, or even a permit, come to think of it?"

"Okay, so you've got me on the permit, but I've never needed to use a table. I never mentioned the stock I had in the alleyway was extra."

Judy looked a little flustered after realizing that Buck managed to turn the question against her, but thankfully Nick was there to intervene.

"Ah, I see. You must have been using your vehicle as the storefront."

"Then how could he have never gone into the alley before the gunshots? You'd figure that he would have at least gone in there once."

"Let me just rephrase that last response for you. I didn't sell anything that day, so I had no reason to go into the alleyway." said Buck.

Judy saw no reason not to believe the oryx considering his relatively ironclad alibi, so she decided that it was best to move on.

"So, last thing before I leave you alone. Did you happen to see anything important when you were there that day? Anything that came from the alley at all? Any information would be very much appreciated."

Judy could see Buck trying to collect his thoughts, thinking hard as he tried to recall that day.

"I did manage to catch a glimpse of two figures when I was running away. One was way shorter than the other one was."

Judy was about ready to prod Buck into giving out some more details, but before she could do so, Nick immediately grabbed her shoulder, shushing her.

"What?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

She was slightly annoyed at getting interrupted in her questioning, but what Nick said next nearly made her freeze in fright.

"Someone's coming."

* * *

 **Before I go, I'd like to throw in a quick plug for the other story I've recently started, entitled The New Age, which is based off of the original draft of the story for Zootopia. However, instead of going the way most others have done, this takes place in an alternate universe where Bellwether's plans were actually a complete success. I really hope that you guys can take the time to check it out. The second chapter should be ready within the next day or so, hopefully. You can link straight to it from my profile. Thanks a bunch.**


	15. Chapter 15

"What?"

Judy, having been pulled roughly out of her groove in interrogating Buck, failed to initially register the full meaning behind what Nick had just said.

"Come on, we have to move! If someone finds us here, you're going to be in so much trouble!" said Nick, sounding uncharacteristically worried.

One of Judy's ears shot up, swiveling towards where the corridor they were in connected to the rest of the hallways and indeed managed to catch the sound of footsteps.

"Oh cheese and crackers!" she said quietly, grabbing Nick's paw and pulling him along behind her as she tried not to panic.

Unfortunately, while they did manage to get out of the area housing the holding cells, they didn't get too far into the main hallway before they were accosted by the owner of said footsteps, which turned out to belong to a striped tiger in a police uniform just like Judy's.

"Officer Delgato! Well this is a pleasant surprise." said Judy, attempting to remain composed despite the fact that she was inwardly freaking out.

Delgato paused, the tiger's years on the force telling him that something odd was going on with Judy. He, however, had to take a few seconds to actually figure out how to bring up that kind of subject without seeming too confrontational.

"I suppose this may be a surprise for me, too. What are you doing down here, anyway? Most of us tend to avoid coming down to this area so as not to rile up the holding cells." he said, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Um…speaking of that, I was actually taking someone down to the holding cells myself." said Judy as she craned her neck to look at the much taller Delgato, saying what was technically the truth even though she had already done it before this foray.

Judy did her best to control her emotions as Delgato watched her, waiting for any kind of facial tick that would give her away.

Luckily, though, it appeared that Delgato didn't catch anything, as the tiger quickly moved on to his next question after noticing Nick standing off to the side.

"So…is this the perp you're talking about? He seems kind of nonchalant for someone you're supposedly taking to the cells."

"What? No!" said Judy, glancing at Nick as she realized what Delgato was talking about. "The perp's already in the cell."

"Then who's this, then?"

"He's…just a friend." said Judy.

Even Nick gave Judy a bewildered look, the fox realizing just how weak that excuse was. Somehow, though, Delgato was more concerned with something completely different.

"You do realize that civilians aren't supposed to be in this area without the chief's permission, right? I really should report you for this."

"No! Please don't!"

Delgato was immediately caught off guard by Judy's sudden outburst, the tiger involuntarily reeling back as his paws were held up in front of him in defense.

"Excuse me?"

After taking a few seconds to compose herself, Judy once again looked up at the still clearly bewildered Delgato.

"Please don't tell Chief."

Judy was about ready to think up a quick excuse, but she realized that the best thing to do was come clean and hope that her fellow officer understood. Sighing heavily, she recounted her recent actions.

"The perp that I mentioned that's in the cell is a material witness for a murder that I was assigned to earlier today. Once I brought him in, Chief Bogo expressly told me to leave the interrogation for the detectives. However, I soon realized that I wasn't going to get anywhere with the case if I let them do it, so I thought it was best to get some answers out of him myself. I knew I was probably going to get into trouble for this, but I couldn't just stand by and wait!"

Delgato paused to think about what Judy said once she was finished speaking, a paw pressed to his temple as he felt a slight headache coming on.

"So…would you mind just keeping this whole thing a secret? Just between us?" said Judy, adopting the biggest smile she could muster in an attempt to convince him.

It took only a few more seconds of tense silence, but Delgato finally sighed in defeat.

"Fine, Hopps. You win. You're going to owe me big time for this, though." he said, pointing straight at Judy with the paw he just had on his head.

"Thank you so much!" said Judy, beaming.

As she quickly led Nick back into the main lobby, Delgato couldn't help but sigh, rolling his eyes as he watched the two of them disappear around the corner.

"I've really got to stop falling for the cute routine." he said under his breath before walking off, his paws in his pockets.

* * *

Back in the lobby, Judy still had an iron grip on Nick's arm as she dragged the unwilling fox along.

However, it wasn't long before Nick realized that he was being led towards the front doors, and he finally pulled his arm free, forcing Judy to stop not far from the exit as she wondered what was going on.

"Hang on a minute, Carrots. Why are we heading outside again? Shouldn't we try and figure out who those figures Buck mentioned are?"

"That is the plan, Nick. I just don't think we can really figure it out sitting behind a desk. Besides, I really don't want to risk trying to sneak you into another area. We barely managed to get away from Officer Delgato."

Nick opened his mouth, believing that Judy was starting to fall back into her law-abiding ways. However, after a few moments of thought, he soon realized that she did technically have a point. They still didn't have much to go on, so trying to search through databases would just be a waste of time.

"Lead the way, Fluff." he said, shrugging.

Judy was admittedly a little surprised by Nick's quick change in attitude, but she decided it was best to take it as it is, so she quickly made her way over to the door and opened it, being polite and letting Nick through before heading through herself.

"Well, it's good to see someone's being chivalrous in this city for once." said Nick haughtily as he clearly noticed the act of civility out of Judy.

"And that comment earned you a door in the face next time we get to one." said Judy, looking a little miffed at Nick's prudish tone.

"Oh, now that is so not nice, Carrots. And here I thought you were looking out for someone like me."

Judy paused, watching Nick's offended look for a few seconds before suddenly bursting out laughing.

"I'm kidding, you dumb fox!"

"Seriously?" asked Nick, clearly befuddled.

"Yeah, of course! I'd never do that to you. Your face was priceless, though, I must say."

Nick was still a little puzzled for a few moments, the joke not really registering. Eventually, though, the fox shook his head in amusement.

"See? I knew that we'd get you to lighten up some day." he said, smirking.

"Sly bunny, dumb fox." said Judy, pointing towards herself and Nick as she spoke.

"Come on, let's get going." said Nick, slightly exasperated despite the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Unfortunately, they didn't get too far down the steps before Judy ended up spotting someone she clearly recognized across the street.

"Wait a second. Is that…Assistant Mayor Bellwether again?"

Nick glanced over at Judy, admittedly a little confused with what she was talking about. However, after squinting his eyes, he was barely able to make out the telltale plume of wool belonging to the assistant mayor.

"Well, isn't that kind of odd. I wonder what she's doing over there." commented Nick as he watched Bellwether, who was currently sitting down on a bench.

Judy was honestly a little curious as well the more she thought about it. As much as she wanted to just move on and search for some clues to help with the case, the fact that the Assistant Mayor herself was randomly out on the street was a little strange to her.

"I'm gonna go talk to her." she said before quickly making her way across the street.

As for Nick, his mind only barely registered Judy's last comment thanks to a bunch of questions about Bellwether running through them. This ended up forcing Nick to have to catch up, as it took a few seconds for him to finally realize that Judy was already halfway across the street and the light overlooking the crosswalk was about ready to change.

Thankfully, the two of them managed to get across the street with some time to spare, and after a few more seconds of walking, they found themselves in front of the bench where Bellwether was, the sheep seemingly too engrossed in some files to notice them.

"Uh…Miss Bellwether?" asked Judy, remembering her preferred method of addressing her name.

Despite the noticeably timid tone that Judy had, Bellwether nearly jumped, the file nearly falling out of her hooves before she quickly caught them and quickly closed them as she turned to face the newcomers.

"Oh! Hello, Officer Hopps! I was just reading through some documents. Mayor Lionheart has got me working extra thanks to his meeting with some of the dignitaries from neighboring cities."

"Why aren't you inside City Hall, though? Isn't this kind of stuff something you don't want others to see?"

"I just needed a bit of fresh air. I'm sure you guys remember just how the mayor acts sometimes."

Judy nodded, clearly remembering Lionheart's less than cordial message during their foray into City Hall. However, just as she was about to move on to another line of questioning, she noticed the tense look that Nick had on his face out of the corner of her eye.

She couldn't help but be curious, wondering what was on the fox's mind, but just as she was about to turn her head to ask, Nick noticed the subtle movement and shook his head, warning Judy off.

Thankfully, Bellwether was too focused on readjusting her files to notice the exchange, so while Judy was a little perplexed as to why Nick wasn't willing to share what he was thinking, she could see that there was most likely a good reason for that to happen.

It only took a few more seconds for Bellwether to finish what she was doing, and when the sheep raised her head to look back at the two of them, she quickly noticed something odd going on with Nick.

"Hey, aren't you that one friend that Officer Hopps was showing around the ZPD?"

"Uh…yes. Yes I am." said Nick, looking a little apprehensive as he spoke.

Bellwether was admittedly a little surprised to see Nick speak after having not said a word during their last meeting, but she quickly composed herself and moved on.

"What happened to your mustache, anyway? I remember you having one that day."

"Oh! I, uh…shaved it off. It was getting really irritating."

Bellwether looked for a second like she didn't want to believe Nick, but then she quickly changed her tone.

"Oh, I see what you mean."

Without warning, Bellwether hopped off of the bench, clutching the stack of files as she smiled at the two.

"Well, I'd better be getting back to City Hall. Mayor Lionheart isn't going to be happy if I stay out here for much longer."

Bellwether then quickly ran off, failing to notice Judy's attempts to stop her and ask some more questions.

Sighing in disgust, Judy turned towards Nick as she decided it was probably best to move on before she got even more flustered.

"So, what's this important thing that you had to wait until Bellwether left to tell me?"

"I'm surprised you haven't already figured it out yourself, Carrots." said Nick coyly, a paw pressed against his chest in mock indignation. "Maybe if you were paying more attention, you might have noticed."

"Oh my god, Nick! Just tell me!" she said, slightly annoyed at how vague the fox was being.

Nick was admittedly fully prepared to dance around the issue a bit more, just to have a bit of fun. However, when Judy's tone turned in the wrong direction, he quickly changed his mind.

"She was spying on us, Fluff. I noticed her staring at us when I first saw her from across the street. I could tell that excuse about getting some fresh air was bull."

"And how would you know that, Slick?" asked Judy, clearly not believing the fox.

Nick sighed, realizing that convincing Judy was going to more difficult than he thought.

"Look, I know it's tough to believe that Bellwether's up to something. Frankly, I'd be convinced too when you see that sweet exterior."

Judy still was far from being convinced, but she still continued to listen intently as Nick continued with his explanation.

"But when you've spent as much time on the streets as I have, you can tell when someone's hiding something. It helps you survive way longer than you would normally."

"So…you're telling me you can read faces?" asked Judy sarcastically.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

This caused Judy to throw up her paws in exasperation.

"Come on, Nick! Do you seriously expect me to believe that? Bellwether…a sweet and timid sheep, mind you…hiding something?"

Nick nodded, causing Judy to throw her head up towards the sky, willing at least someone to make some sense in this crazy town.

"Let's go."

"Go where?" asked Nick, walking on eggshells after seeing just how annoyed Judy was getting.

Judy was about ready to sigh once more, but she soon realized that she never mentioned where exactly they were even going before the meeting with Bellwether, so she quickly stamped that sigh down and turned towards the fox.

"I think we should go and check out the crime scene."

"Really? Didn't you mention that the murder happened over a week ago? I'm pretty sure that the crime scene would be long cleared of evidence by now." said Nick, puzzled by Judy's line of thinking.

"I know that, Nick. That doesn't mean I'm not going to get anything out of making a visit there."

Without waiting for an answer, Judy prepared to make the trek towards the street where the crime scene was. However, she was quickly stopped in her tracks when Nick suddenly spoke up once more.

"Hey, love the bravado and all, but don't you think you should probably grab something to defend yourself?" he asked.

Judy immediately wheeled around to face Nick, her arms spread wide.

"Seriously? We're just going to a crime scene."

"Yeah, that's true, but there's no telling what'll happen out there. I'm sure you don't want to have to deal with another Buck without a pistol to defend yourself, am I right?"

Judy was about ready to argue against having to run all the way back to the precinct just to grab a tranquilizer pistol, but Nick already had another snide comment prepared.

"Oh, and can you see if you can get one of the cruisers in the parking lot out there? I may not recognize the street, but I'm pretty sure that it's not within walking distance."

Judy stared at Nick for a few moments, hoping that the fox was just joking and she wouldn't have to deal with getting an entire cruiser for the two of them, but she soon realized that all hope was lost when Nick's expression remained the same, even after all of the scrutiny.

Sighing heavily, Judy made her way over to the precinct, hoping that Chief Bogo wouldn't be too mad with what she was about to ask for.


	16. Chapter 16

As she expected, Chief Bogo looked none too happy when Judy requested the use of a police cruiser for the case. To be honest, the buffalo looked like he was about ready to blow his top, but after some well-mannered begging from the rabbit, Bogo finally relented, but there was one issue.

"I'm afraid I don't have any cruisers available that are your size, Hopps. Last I've heard, they're in the middle of making one for our smaller officers, but I don't believe that it's complete yet."

"Oh, that's alright, Chief. I'm sure I'll be able to manage."

"I'd like to disagree with you on that, Hopps. Our smallest vehicle is for officers of Wolford's size, and as I'm sure you've seen, he's just about double your size."

Judy was noticeably dismayed after hearing about how difficult driving one of those things was going to be. She briefly considered trying to convince the chief to let her drive the meter maid cart again, but she soon realized that not only would Nick make fun of her for doing that, the two of them would also have to endure being uncomfortably squeezed together during the entire ride there.

"I'm sure I'll figure out a way to use it, Chief." she said, a determined look on her face.

Bogo looked noticeably annoyed at not being able to convince Judy not to take a cruiser, but after a few seconds, he sighed in defeat, rubbing at his eyes with his hoof.

"Alright, fine. Go speak to Clawhauser and he'll point you to where the keys are located."

Nodding, Judy saluted before beginning to make her way out of the office. However, just as she was about to head through the door, Bogo spoke up once more.

"And Hopps?"

"Yes, sir?" asked Judy, curious as she poked her head back through the door.

"This is your only warning. Any damage to the car will be coming out of your paycheck."

Judy looked noticeably taken aback, but before she could argue, Bogo held up a hoof to silence her.

"I don't want to hear it, Hopps. Once the new cruiser comes along, then we'll talk about payment for repairs. As for now, since the one you're taking doesn't belong to you, I'm holding you liable."

Judy didn't look too happy about being treated like she was taking the car out for a joyride, but she was already cutting things close with Bogo's mood, so she nodded to show she understood before closing the door behind her and heading down towards the front desk.

* * *

Outside of the precinct, Nick was keeping himself occupied by sitting down on the bench formerly occupied by Dawn Bellwether, looking towards the precinct as he thought about what Judy said.

Nick was definitely sure that he saw Bellwether looking towards them when the two of them were walking out of the precinct, but he admittedly began to wonder if she was really spying on them.

When one spends as much time on the streets as Nick has done, you have to be watching your back as much as humanly possible if you want to survive. Nick has obviously performed that function greatly considering he was still here with us today, but the only real issue that came from it is that Nick ended up developing a healthy dose of paranoia.

The fox has hidden that little side of him very well under a veil of sarcasm and witty comebacks, but there have been moments when even the normally cool and collected Nick was worried for his safety, especially when he ran afoul of Mr. Big.

Nick sighed heavily, unsure of what to think, but before he could really try to process which direction to go, he suddenly noticed a police cruiser pull up in front of him.

At first, he was a little worried that he was going to be in for a bunch of awkward questions, but after hearing the driver's side door open and close, he was surprised to find that it was in fact Judy herself driving the car.

"Isn't this a little big for you, Carrots?" asked Nick.

Despite Nick's attempt to lighten the mood, Judy looked none too happy as she sized up the fox.

"I had to spend the last twenty minutes trying to figure out how to drive a car that's sized for a timberwolf! I don't want to hear another word, Nicholas!"

Although noticeably surprised by Judy's use of his full first name, Nick decided it was best just to move on from the subject so he didn't end up angering Judy even more than she already was.

"So…shall we go?" he asked, gesturing towards the car with his paws.

Judy stared at Nick for a few more seconds, considering whether to throttle him or not, before she finally threw her head into the air, groaning in disgust before making her way back to the driver's seat.

Nick was admittedly a little puzzled as to the reason why Judy was acting the way she did, but he was already wasting enough time as it is standing there, so after giving a quick knock on the passenger door, Nick hopped into the seat once the door was unlocked for him.

* * *

After closing the door behind him, Nick finally got a chance to take a look around the cruiser, and he couldn't help but be mesmerized by everything around him.

Most of the interior was something you'd expect to see from a high-end luxury sports car (especially the seats), but there was also a fair share of high-tech equipment mounted on to the dashboard, which Nick barely managed to resist putting his hands on.

Speaking of the seats, while they were definitely a little big for him (which was reasonable considering who the car was supposed to be for), they were definitely comfortable. Nick did end up having a bit of trouble resisting the urge to sink into the leather seats.

Thankfully, though, Judy was there to bring him back to Earth.

"If you're done bouncing around like an excited schoolkit, I'd like to get going."

"Well, why haven't you started moving yet?"

Judy didn't answer, which forced Nick to look over to where she was sitting to see what she was going on about. This ended up giving him a chance to see how she managed to pull off driving a vehicle for a mammal twice her size.

It turns out that she actually ended up taking Finnick's lead, getting her hands on a booster seat to be able to see over the dashboard and jerry rigging an extension using wooden poles and wooden blocks so that she could reach the pedals.

After taking a few seconds to admire the setup, Nick managed to pull his focus away from it to finally focus on what Judy was trying to say. And while Judy was admittedly annoyed at how long it took for Nick to notice what she was doing, she kept at it, and Nick finally noticed her gesturing with her eyes towards the seat belt.

"Oh! Sorry about that." said Nick sheepishly.

Nick ended up having to stand on the seat to be able to reach the seat belt, but he eventually managed to pull it down and click it into the latch next to his seat.

Nodding in appreciation for Nick's dutiful following of the road rules, Judy finally pulled out of her parking spot, and while the going was a little slow considering she was still getting used to driving this way, she managed to make the journey so far as smooth as possible.

"You know, I do like the set up you've got there, Fluff. There's not a lot of flash, but it's definitely functional."

"Well, there's not a lot of choice in the matter when you're pressed for time like I am." she said, a little too tersely for Nick's liking.

"Okay, seriously, Carrots. What's going on with you? I haven't seen you this irritated since we've first met."

Judy opened her mouth, almost ready to snap, but before she could do so, she finally realized just how she was acting and immediately shut it again, sighing heavily before finally speaking.

"Sorry, Nick. I'm just really stressed out right now. I know I've already mentioned it to you, but I'm fighting for my job right now."

"No need to say anymore, Carrots." said Nick, holding up a paw. "I understand completely."

Judy had a few more lines prepared for her explanation, so she was a little taken aback by Nick's quick vote of confidence.

"Wow. Thanks Nick. I thought you'd be a little upset at me for the way I've been acting."

"Well then, you don't know me as well as you think."

Nick paused, glancing over at Judy's puzzled expression before continuing on.

"I've survived on the streets for as long as I had by following one mantra. Never let them see that they've gotten to you."

Nick paused once more to let that last sentence sink in.

"Let me tell you, it's gotten me out of quite a few scrapes back in the past."

"How about all of the times that it didn't work?" asked Judy.

"Well…Fin can be pretty vicious when he needs to be."

Judy couldn't resist giggling, Nick smiling as he noticed his joke have its intended effect.

"In all seriousness, though, that's when I'd usually run for it. It's not the noblest method, but it works for foxes like me."

Judy inwardly winced, knowing that something was up when Nick pulled out the species card.

"Nick, don't say that! You're not just any old fox."

Nick paused, his expression downcast for a few moments before turning his head to face Judy.

"That's not what other people think."

Judy tried her best to keep her eyes on the road, but she was definitely stunned, having absolutely no clue why Nick would be thinking like that.

"Why?"

Nick sighed before finally launching into a story he never thought he'd mention again.

"I was eight…maybe nine years old. I wanted nothing more than to join the Junior Ranger Scouts, so my mom managed to scrounge up enough money to buy me a uniform. The troop I was joining was mostly prey, but I wasn't worried. I was more concerned with fitting in, to be honest."

"How'd it go?" asked Judy, definitely curious.

Nick's expression ended up giving her a general idea of what his answer was, but the fox still elaborated anyway.

"They pushed me to the floor and stuck a muzzle on me."

They were lucky that the road was clear at that point, because Judy's barely managed to resist whipping her head around to face Nick as she gasped.

"Nick, that's horrible! I can't believe they would do that to you."

"You don't know the half of it, Fluff. Can you imagine what I felt knowing that mammals who you thought were your friends only think of you as someone who's shifty and untrustworthy?"

Judy didn't answer, but she slowly shook her head, trying her best to register what she had just heard.

"Well, as you can imagine, I was pretty terrified. When you're as young as I was, being muzzled like they did to me that night can really leave a mark on you."

Nick sighed heavily, shaking his head before continuing on.

"You know that motto that Lionheart thought up, where 'Anyone can be anything'?" he asked, accentuating the motto itself with sarcastic finger quotes.

Judy nodded, clearly remembering hearing about it back when it first came out and treating it like gospel.

"Well, I believed in that, too, until that night. That's when the optimistic side of me disappeared. If they're going to think that foxes are only sly and untrustworthy, that's how I was going to act. There's no point in trying to show them otherwise."

Nick soon fell silent, which gave Judy some time to think about Nick's incredibly cynical view of his species' treatment. Sure, she definitely recalled the fact that he had the same kind of viewpoint when it came to the city as a whole back when they first met, but hearing the way that Nick was being treated all because he was a fox was a lot to take in for the bunny.

"Wow." she said.

"Is that it?" asked Nick, slightly annoyed. "I just told you something that I've never told anyone, not even Finnick, and that's all you think?"

Judy nearly started from Nick's sudden outburst, and she knew that she had to move quickly so that she didn't anger Nick further.

Despite only being around a couple of blocks from the crime scene, Judy pulled over to the side of the road, turning the cruiser off before immediately turning her entire body to face Nick.

"Nick, that is not what I meant at all. I'm just…shocked that something like what you've experienced is a usual occurrence in Zootopia."

"Really?" asked Nick, not ready to forgive her quite yet.

"Yeah! I mean, Bunnyburrow isn't exactly the most progressive town in the world, but most of the different species tend to get along…at least, for the most part."

She noticed Nick's eyebrow rise, which she took as piquing the fox's interest.

"What's this about 'for the most part'?"

Judy paused, slightly caught off guard by Nick's line of questioning. She admittedly had Gideon Grey in mind when adding that part of the sentence, but she didn't really want to actually mention that fact in front of Nick in case it ended up making things worse, so she was forced to quickly come up with a vague answer.

"Well, um…nobody's perfect, you know? I've heard my mom and dad mention some arguments that happened every so often."

Judy waited to see if Nick would drop the subject, but the fox remained silent, gesturing with his paw for Judy to go on. Unfortunately, that meant having to dig herself in even deeper.

"There's not really a whole lot of predators that live in Bunnyburrow, as you can imagine."

"Right, considering it's like ninety-five percent bunnies." said Nick, following along with Judy's thought process.

"Of course. Anyway, most of the predators that come through town are from neighboring districts, so prey versus predator arguments are really a rare occurrence, to be honest."

Nick paused once more, making Judy think that she was going to have to elaborate even more, but to her surprise, Nick suddenly smiled.

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to come visit your little town one of these days. I imagine it's a heck of a lot better than dealing with everything here in the city. It'd be nice to see all of those rabbits around, too. It must be pretty crowded."

Even though Judy felt a twinge of nervousness considering the look on Nick's face as he mentioned visiting Bunnyburrow, she hid it pretty well due to the fact that she was actually pretty in to the idea.

"That actually sounds pretty fun. Once we get this case over and done with, I'd love to show you around."

"Sounds great, Carrots."

Satisfied, Nick tucked his paws behind his head, resting against the seat as Judy pulled back out of her parking spot as the two of them finished the last leg of their trip to the crime scene.


	17. Chapter 17

I know I've already mentioned it on my other stories, but I really feel the need to explain myself for the slight delay since the last chapter. That's on the fact that my computer died on me. I did get it replaced, though, so we're back on schedule, hopefully.

* * *

Judy and Nick soon managed to reach the crime scene in question after a little more time has passed considering Judy had to rely on the cruiser's GPS to actually get there, not to mention the fact that the large car was still a little difficult to control even with the adjustments she made.

Eventually, though, they came to a stop just across the street from the alley in question. Having spent so much time looking at the photo and recording, Judy could clearly recognize the subtle details of the scene.

After reaching up towards the steering wheel and shutting the engine off, Judy pushed the door open and hopped out, shutting it behind her. She quickly made her way over to the other side, thinking that Nick might need some help getting out, but to her surprise he was already out of the car, having just shut the door when she arrived.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"Lead the way." said Nick, gesturing towards the other side of the street.

Although Judy was a little worried about Nick considering the emotional roller coaster he went through on the ride over, she trusted that the fox was more than capable of handling himself, so after spending a few seconds to make sure he was going to be alright, she started making her way over to the other side of the street, Nick following close behind.

Once they reached the other side, Judy's first impression made it pretty clear that the ZPD was pretty thorough during their initial search. She couldn't see any sort of clue from where she was standing, which did worry her a little, but she knew that finding something important wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

"So…anything you want me to do?" asked Nick, looking over at Judy once he scanned through the area himself.

Judy paused, nearly kicking herself as she completely forgot about the fact that Nick has never really done a police investigation before. To be fair, neither did she, but she at least learned about how to do it back at the academy.

Once she realized that fact, she quickly formulated a plan before turning to face Nick.

"Why don't you take a look inside the alleyway?"

"I hope you're not trying to get rid of me or anything." said Nick, catching Judy off guard by the quick shift in tone.

"I'm not doing that! You've got your night vision, remember? I'm sure you can see a heck of a lot better inside there than I can."

Judy fell silent, expecting Nick to see what she was trying to explain, but to her surprise, she could see Nick smirk before finally bursting into laughter.

"I'm kidding, Carrots! Man, we've still got some work to do to get you to lighten up a bit." he said, giggling for a few seconds longer before finally calming down.

Judy audibly huffed, but instead of trying to argue against Nick's point, she decided that it was probably best just to move on from the subject before things got even more awkward.

"Come on, you dumb fox, let's get started on this before people start giving us weird looks."

Nick shrugged, seeing no reason not to follow along with Judy's plan, so the two of them finally began to search through the crime scene, with Nick handling the alleyway itself, and Judy handling the sidewalk in front where the murder took place.

* * *

Unfortunately, as Judy expected, the search came up empty. While she was fully aware of the fact that finding anything a week after the rest of the ZPD came through would be very difficult, it still annoyed her to no end knowing that fact.

Sighing audibly, she ran her paws along her head, letting them go along her ears and off the tips.

"You find anything, Nick?" she asked as she spoke loudly in the direction of the alley.

Judy admittedly expected Nick to shout back his reply, but she ended up being forced to wait for a few seconds as the fox appeared from under the veil of darkness that was the alleyway.

"Nope, nothing. By the way, do you have a flashlight on you or something?"

"It's in the car, but isn't your night vision enough? I figured that you wouldn't have an issue being able to see in there." said Judy, curious.

"Oh believe me, Fluff, I'm trying my best in there, but that alleyway is insanely dark. I'm beginning to see why no one was able to see who was inside of there when the murder happened."

Judy was noticeably surprised to hear what Nick had to say. When she first heard about the details of this case, she did find it a little hard to believe that an alleyway would be dark enough for no one to be able to see who was inside it and in broad daylight, no less.

Now that Nick has essentially confirmed the story of it being too dark even for a predator with night vision, this made the case a heck of a lot more interesting.

"Hey Fluff, you awake in there?"

Judy nearly jumped in surprise, not realizing that she was so far lost in thought with these new details. Thankfully, Nick was there to pull her back to the present, but when she refocused on what was actually in front of her, she found a slightly annoyed Nick.

"Are you going to get that flashlight for me or not?"

"Oh, sorry! I kind of zoned out for a second there."

As Judy rushed off towards the cruiser, Nick couldn't help but call out after her from his position.

"I never thought you'd be one of those dreamer types, Carrots!" he shouted as Judy reached the cruiser.

Unfortunately for Nick, Judy was barely paying attention to what was being said, as she was too focused on getting the flashlight, which she incidentally ran into while putting together her pedal extensions. Apparently Fangmeyer must have accidentally left it inside of the vehicle during his last use of it.

After making a mental note to return the flashlight to Fangmeyer when she got back to the precinct, Judy managed to pull it out of the slot it was being held in and dragged it out of the cruiser, shutting the door behind her.

Despite the flashlight being almost as tall as her, Judy somehow managed to carry it all of the way back across the street and hand it over to Nick, who had a much easier time carrying it around even though he also needed to use both of his paws.

After Nick flicked the flashlight on and walked back into the alleyway, Judy decided to busy herself by continuing to search around the sidewalk and surrounding area.

As she expected, though, she still failed to find anything important, especially considering the fact that most evidence would have been washed away by now. She had only been in Zootopia for a couple days at this point, but she did remember it raining at least once back in Bunnyburrow over the past week, so there was a good chance that it might have done the same inside the city.

Sighing in exasperation, Judy was about ready to check up on Nick once more when she noticed that the beam of the flashlight had suddenly come to a stop, shining on one particular area.

"Nick? You alright in there?" she asked, unsure if the fox had actually heard her.

There was no answer coming from inside the alleyway, which worried Judy quite a bit. In an attempt to be as careful as humanly possible, Judy pulled out her tranquilizer pistol (which she was thankful to have remembered to pick up while inside the precinct) and brandished it in both her paws as she made her way into the darkened alley.

While it was very difficult for her to see considering how dark it was, Judy used the beam of the flashlight as a reference point. Unfortunately, in her haste to make sure that Nick was okay, she failed to notice that the flashlight was not on the ground.

"Freeze! Paws in the air, now!"

The flashlight immediately fell to the ground as she could barely see the holder do as he was asked and stick his paws into the air. However, when Judy squinted, she could barely see the outline of who was in front of her, and she soon realized to her horror that Nick was still by himself, completely fine.

"Oh my god, Nick! I'm so sorry! I got nervous when I saw the flashlight stop moving." she said, an apologetic tone in her voice.

"Geez, Carrots, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Don't scare me like that!" said Nick, the outline of his hands lowering down to clutch at his chest.

Judy quickly gave Nick an apologetic look (admittedly hoping that she was pointing in the right direction) before bending down to pick up the flashlight.

Somehow it had miraculously survived the fall, which Judy decided to take as a win in her book. After handing the flashlight back to Nick, she decided it was probably best to move on from the subject before things got even more awkward between the two of them.

"So, did you find anything important? I noticed you had the light on that spot over there." she asked, pointing towards the area in question, which was near one of the walls.

Nick didn't answer immediately, as he was still in the middle of calming his rapidly beating heart down. Eventually, he did feel calm enough to answer, and he turned towards Judy, the light in his paws trained once more on the area after taking a few seconds to remember exactly where it was.

"I think I see something white inside those bushes over there. I was about to go check it out before you scared the crap out of me."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!"

Nick didn't reply, which did annoy Judy a bit, but she really didn't feel like getting into an argument in the middle of a pitch black alleyway, so she decided just to go ahead and check it out.

After spending a few seconds wondering just how a bush would manage to grow in the middle of an alleyway with almost no light, Judy made her way over to said bush, following the trail of light before finally reaching the end and finding that there was indeed something white speared on the end of a thorn.

Unfortunately, the thorn in question was a few inches deep into the bush, so Judy ended up having to get down on her knees and slowly reached in to the bush, hoping that her police uniform wouldn't get damaged.

Thankfully, with her small figure, smoothly getting her paw in and out of the bush proved to surprisingly not be an issue, and she soon came out with the object in paw.

"What is it?" asked Nick, curious.

"How about we get back to where I can actually see it before we ask any questions, alright?"

Nick didn't answer, so Judy took it as him understanding, especially after seeing his outline start to head towards the opening they came in through.

As for Judy herself, getting out of the alleyway was a little more difficult, but she did manage to eventually get back into the light, even though she nearly tripped over a trash bag on the way out.

Soon enough, both Judy and Nick were back in the light, and the former immediately went into action, raising the clue up to eye level and studying it carefully, wanting to make absolutely sure that she knew what it was.

"Anything good?"

Unfortunately, by the time Nick asked that question, Judy soon realized that she couldn't tell what it was. There wasn't enough of the object for her to be able to tell where it came from, so she reluctantly shook her head.

"Nope, nothing. I can't tell what this is."

Nick paused, slightly disheartened by the news, but instead of immediately thinking of another option to go with, the fox swiped the clue out of Judy's paw, ignoring the protest from her as he began studying it.

Even though Judy was annoyed with Nick's methods of getting his hands on it, she did figure that there was no reason not to let him try and figure out what it was.

After remaining silent for a few seconds while Nick puzzled things out, Judy decided that now was the best time to ask about what he figured out, so she awkwardly cleared her throat to get his attention before finally speaking.

"Did you manage to figure something out about that?"

Judy looked expectantly at Nick, thinking that he was on the right track considering the look on his face. However, what she heard come out of his mouth wasn't something she expected.

"Well, I think I have a general idea of what it is, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. Frankly, it could be anything."

Judy looked noticeably disappointed after hearing what Nick said, thinking that they were back to square one. However, Nick wasn't done speaking.

"I do know someone, though, that I think can help us identify where this little piece of fluff comes from."

Judy was admittedly a little apprehensive when Nick mentioned knowing someone. Ever since she met him, hearing those words usually meant that something bad was going to happen, but her desperation to get the case solved and save her job meant that she knew that she had to risk it.

"Alright, fine. If this'll get us closer to solving who the murderer was, I'm all for it." she said, although very reluctantly.

"Wonderful. Come on, let's go. We've got a long drive ahead of us."

Judy was still unsure if this was one of the better decisions she'd ever made, but now that Nick had mentioned the fact that this place was farther than she ever would have thought, she was even more worried.

Still, she had already told Nick that she was willing to follow along, so there was no chickening out for her.

Sighing heavily, Judy led the way as she and Nick made their way back over to the squad car. After making their way inside, Judy began rummaging around the glove compartment.

"Looking for something, Fluff?" asked Nick, resisting the urge to look at her fluffy tail swish back and forth as she worked.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before Judy ended up finding the item she was looking for, and she quickly brandished it in front of Nick for a few seconds before storing the clue inside it.

"Evidence bags. I certainly don't want to lose this after we spent so much time to find it."

"Fair enough." said Nick, shrugging.

After storing the bag inside the console next to her, Judy started the cruiser, slowly breathing in and out before finally pulling out of the parking spot as the two of them began their long journey.


	18. Chapter 18

Now, I'd probably be working on something else at this point, in this case being After So Long. However, I noticed after I posted the last chapter that this story actually managed to break a hundred favorites and a hundred and fifty follows! This is the first one of my stories to actually achieve that feat, so to celebrate, here's another chapter for you guys.

Oh hey, and I got featured by ZNN, too. Even better!

* * *

The drive over to where Nick's friend was ended up taking quite a lot longer than either of them thought, thanks to the fact that not only was Judy still not quite comfortable with the contraption she threw together to drive, she also had to have Nick guide her there, so by the time they got to where they were, the sun was already starting to set for the night.

When Judy finally brought the cruiser to a stop and locked the door behind her, she finally got a chance to look at the area around her, and what she saw would make any normal mammal run screaming the other way.

The building itself was your basic eerie architecture, with the dark colors and red lighting making it look to Judy like they were trying to keep mammals away despite it for all intents and purposes looking like a hospital of sorts.

However, the more frightening thing she noticed was how dangerously close the building was situated to the edge of a giant cliff. She couldn't help but be a little worried, considering something as little as an earthquake could send the building toppling over into what she assumed was water (Judy really didn't want to go over and find out).

Despite her general misgivings, Judy knew that the case came first, so after double checking to make sure the evidence was with her, she steeled her nerves before turning towards Nick.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

However, just as she was about to make her way towards the front gate, Nick suddenly spoke up, stopping her in her tracks.

"Now, hang on a second there, Fluff."

Judy groaned, annoyed at getting interrupted.

"What is it?"

"You're not…scared, are you?"

Judy's head whipped around to face Nick at a speed that almost gave her whiplash, her eyes wide as she caught the smirk on the fox's face.

"What? No…of course not." said Judy, her voice shaking a bit despite her attempts to show her bravery.

Unfortunately for her, Nick caught that shift in tone, but thankfully he decided to be nice and drop the subject.

"Either way, welcome to the Cliffside Asylum!" he said, gesturing wide with his paws as he stood in front of the road to the building.

"Well, that figures. Creepy looking building just happens to be a home for crazy people. What are the odds?"

"Ah, don't worry, Carrots. You've got big, strong Nick to protect you."

Judy looked up at Nick wiggling his eyebrows for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and making her way up the road, Nick following close behind.

"So…remind me why you told me to park all the way down at the bottom of the cliff again?" asked Judy when the two of them came up to a steep incline.

"Technically, we're not supposed to be here. I heard that they're doing a lot of secret stuff in there. God knows what, though."

"Then what are we doing just walking up to the front door? Shouldn't we be sneaking around or something?" asked Judy.

"Do you really want to be climbing around on the side of the cliff, Carrots?" he asked, gesturing towards the edge of the road.

Judy looked over towards where Nick was pointing and immediately shivered. As much as she didn't want to get caught by whoever was guarding this place, trying to sneak around the underside would be incredibly dangerous, not to mention unnecessary considering they still had a way to go before they even reached the building.

Eventually, Nick and Judy finally made it to the top of the incline, as the two of them quickly hid in a nearby bush before they were spotted.

As Judy watched to see if there was any ways to get in, her hearing managed to pick up some light panting from nearby. Glancing over, she noticed that it was in fact Nick who was the one doing so, as the fox's muzzle was slightly open and his tongue was sticking out just a bit.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to think here." she whispered.

Judy could slightly hear Nick grumble something about him not being as fit as her, but the panting soon stopped, which allowed her to fully focus on what was going on in front of her just in time to find out what they were dealing with.

"Wolves. There's no way we're going to be able to sneak past them." commented Nick. "If one of them finds us, we're done for once they howl."

Judy was only partially listening to what Nick was saying considering she was too busy trying to figure out a method to get past them without them being able to smell her or Nick, but when she heard him mention howling, an idea suddenly popped into her head.

"I've got an idea! Wait here a second."

Ignoring Nick's quiet protests, Judy rushed forwards, pressing her back up against a guard station as one of the wolf guards caught scent of something.

Nick, terrified, could only watch as the wolf tried to figure out which direction it was coming from, but before he could figure it out, he was surprised to hear Judy howl, the noise traveling throughout the compound.

At first, neither Nick nor Judy were sure that it worked, considering nothing happened once Judy stopped howling, but before either of them knew it, the nearby wolf suddenly started howling, only to be quickly stopped by another wolf.

"Gary, stop! You're going to start a howl!"

"It wasn't me who started it!" said Gary.

Before the two of them could continue arguing, Nick could see Judy howl once more, and as expected, both Gary and the other wolf started howling, the howl eventually traveling through the rest of the compound as all of the guards he could see began howling as well.

Surprised at how easily that worked, Nick could only stare in shock before Judy rushed over and hurriedly beckoned for the fox.

"Come on, let's move before they stop howling!"

After quickly pulling himself out of the bush, Nick rushed off after Judy as the two of them made their way towards the front door and inside the asylum, the guards none the wiser.

* * *

If the outside of the asylum was creepy to Judy, it was nothing compared to what was inside.

As she and Nick made their way through the hallways with Nick leading the way, the eerie atmosphere reminded her of some of the haunted houses that she and her friends went through back in Bunnyburrow during Halloween time. Sure, the quality of the houses were a little suspect considering the low budget, but when you were barely into the double digits with your age, there were a lot of things that could still scare you.

In an attempt to stave off the nerves, Judy reached down into her holster and pulled out her tranquilizer pistol. She didn't really have any intention of using it unless she needed to, but having the weight of it in her paws helped a bit to calm her down.

Eventually, after what felt like a never ending series of dark hallways, Nick and Judy found themselves standing in front of a simple door where Judy could see a small laboratory through the glass, and working inside the lab was a badger who seemed to be really into what she was working on.

Taking a breath, Judy prepared to knock on the door, but before she could do so, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by another paw. With how paranoid this entire journey through the asylum was making her, Judy's mind immediately went to the worst case scenario, but just as she was about to grab the paw and flip the owner of said appendage over her shoulder, she suddenly realized that it was Nick.

"God Nick, don't scare me like that."

Through the slight light coming from the room, Judy could see some recognition dawning on Nick's muzzle when he realized what he'd done.

"Well, I guess that this is a bit of revenge for you scaring me at the alleyway, right?" he said, smirking.

Judy knew that what he said was a complete misunderstanding on her part, but instead of arguing, she decided just to go ahead and play along, figuring that she did kind of deserve it.

"Okay, you win. Now let's go talk to this lady before she thinks we're crazy for hovering around her door."

"Uh…speaking of that…"

"What is it now, Nick?" asked Judy, her suspicion piqued after noticing the awkward look on the fox's muzzle.

"I'd suggest that you let me do the talking. She's a little…eccentric, if you catch my drift."

Judy's curiosity was the next thing to be piqued after hearing what Nick said, but just as she was about to ask about it, the expression on Nick's face told her it was best not to ask.

"I think you'll understand why soon enough, Carrots."

Without waiting for her to speak again, Nick turned around and rapped on the door with his knuckles. Judy could see the badger's attention pulled away from her experiment towards the door, her expression quickly changing from a look of surprise after seeing who was in front of the door to a look of annoyance.

"Nick, what in the heck are you doing here? I told you that this place doesn't allow visitors!"

Although slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst from the badger, Nick remained composed.

"Well, hello to you too, Honey."

This snide comment earned him a glare from Honey before she reluctantly let him in, Judy sneaking in through the door just a few seconds before it closed.

"Alright, so I'm assuming that this visit must be important considering you've busted in to a high security compound, so what's this all about?"

"Well, Honey, we've found a little something I think you might have a good chance at recognizing. It's supposed to be a clue for a case that my friend here is working on." he said, gesturing towards Judy who waved nervously.

"And who might you be?"

"Judy Hopps, ZPD." she said, reaching out a paw to shake.

Honey, however, didn't take the offer, instead glancing back over to where she left her equipment with a look on her face that made it seem like she really wanted to get back to work.

As for Nick, he cleared his throat awkwardly before deciding to take charge of the conversation.

"Anyway…Carrots, this is Dr. Madge Honey Badger, but please call her Honey."

"And why's that?" asked Judy, glaring at Honey thanks to how rude she was being.

"I hate being called Madge. That's a name that only Grandmas would have." said Honey.

Even though Judy knew that was completely wrong, especially considering she had a younger sister back at home named Madge, she didn't want to rile up the badger any further, so she remained silent, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the evidence bag and handed it over to Honey, who regarded it with a wary eye.

"We found this piece of fluff inside an alleyway. We're hoping that you'd be able to tell where this came from."

Honey stared at Judy for a few seconds, almost getting to the point where Judy was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

Eventually, though, to her surprise, Honey suddenly stuffed the fluff into her mouth, catching Judy completely off guard.

She was about ready to try and use the Heimlich maneuver to bring it back out, but she then noticed that Honey still had some of the fluff in her paw as she looked like she was tasting it.

Judy glanced over at Nick with a weirded out look on her face, which was only exacerbated when Nick simply shrugged.

Eventually, though, Honey did pull the fluff out of her mouth as she spent the next few minutes studying it, even using a nearby microscope to help.

It was almost beginning to get to the point where even Judy was beginning to get restless from the amount of time being spent by Honey to get an answer, but what she didn't expect was for Honey to rush over and grab Nick by the tie, pulling the fox forwards as she met him face to face.

"What are you doing with sheep wool, Nick? Are you working with them? Huh?"

Nick winced after hearing the loud bark that came out of Honey's mouth with her last word.

Judy, meanwhile, failed to register what was going on in front of her at first considering she was still processing the fact that what they found was sheep wool.

Eventually, though, she did manage to pull herself together, but by the time she managed to do so, Nick had successfully managed to calm Honey down, and the two of them separated.

"What was that about?" mouthed Judy as she looked at a slightly perturbed Nick.

The fox, however, didn't answer her question, instead signaling that he'll tell her about it later.

However, just as Honey rebagged the piece of sheep wool and handed it back to Judy, the lights to the lab suddenly shut off, only to be replaced by red strobe lights, as an alarm suddenly blared throughout the building.

"What's going on?" asked Judy.

"Oh shoot! I think you guys really need to leave. The guards are coming!"

"How? There's only one exit I know of!" said Nick over the noise of the alarm, his eyes wide in fear.

Honey looked around the room in an attempt to find out a good escape plan for the two of them, eventually landing her eyes on something perfect.

"Over here!"

Both Nick and Judy followed Honey for a few seconds before reaching something that neither of them really expected to be an option.

"Really? You're expecting us to go down a toilet?" asked Nick, exasperated.

"Yeah, obviously! It's the only way you two can escape before the guards get here, that is unless you guys want to try to go through the front door. That's the only other way out of here."

Nick looked over at Judy, expecting her to argue against this option as well, but to his surprise, she was already stuffing her phone into the evidence bag and stuffing it down her shirt.

"Are you serious, Fluff?"

"Hey, if you have a better option, Nick, I'd love to hear it." said Judy, climbing up on to the toilet seat as she prepared to make the plunge.

Nick was still a little reluctant, but after seeing Judy flush herself down the toilet, he knew that there was no turning back now, so he climbed up on to the seat as well, flushing himself down and disappearing just as a group of guards burst through the door.


	19. Chapter 19

As if by some miracle, the pipes just happened to be big enough so that Nick and Judy were able to slide through them without any real issue.

Unfortunately, it still didn't help the fact that they were sliding through water that most likely came from a lot more toilets than the one they went down.

"Ugh, this is so gross." thought Judy to herself, trying her best to keep her head above water as she was flung around corner after corner.

Nick was a bit of a different story, though. Being only slightly taller than Judy with her ears up, he had a bit more difficulty controlling his path through the pipes. It didn't help, either, that Judy was going at a much faster pace thanks to her smaller size, so most of his time was spent paying extremely close attention to which direction she was going through the labyrinthine pipes.

Eventually, though, the two of them saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The only problem was that it led to a fifty foot drop into the water surrounding the asylum.

Realizing what was ahead of them, Nick tried his best to scramble to his feet and stop himself from flying out of the pipe, but unfortunately it was already too late, and both him and Judy were sent screaming out of the pipe and into the water after what felt like a never-ending fall.

Now, a fall of that kind of height would most likely cause extensive injuries (if not kill them) thanks to the tension of the water below, but Nick quickly noticed Judy tucking her legs and head inwards. Seconds before they landed, Nick did the same and hoped for the best.

The landing was obviously very painful, but after a few seconds where Nick began to think that he was dead, he opened his eyes to find that he was indeed still underwater.

Swimming as quickly as he could manage, Nick eventually broke the surface, gasping for air as he thanked whoever was around that he was still alive.

Unfortunately, as Nick got a chance to look around the water, he began to panic when he realized that he was the only one currently above water.

"Oh no, not again." he said quietly before beginning to swim around, frantically calling her name.

"Carrots? Hopps! Judy!"

Just when Nick was beginning to think that he was going to have to dive down and find her, Judy suddenly broke through the surface, also gasping for air.

"Oh my god! You're alright!" said Nick, a genuine smile on his muzzle for once.

"I don't know if I am. Please help me." said Judy, and that was when Nick noticed the pained look on the rabbit's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, nervous.

"I said I don't know! Now come over here and help me swim to shore!" said Judy, annoyed.

Nick was admittedly a little reluctant to grab her without knowing exactly what was going on with her, considering he didn't want to injure her even further, but he soon realized that just leaving her here was only going to make things worse, so he swam forwards, turning around so that Judy could wrap her arms around his neck.

As Nick huffed and puffed his way towards shore while carrying Judy on his back, he reasonably began to worry about her well-being. He obviously had no idea what was going on with her considering she wouldn't tell him, but he began to think that it must have had something to do with their landing in the water.

This came as a bit of a surprise to Nick, considering that outside of general fatigue, he largely felt fine. There was still a distinct possibility that he could be hurt, but that would have to be left up to when they reached shore and he could get a good look at himself.

Eventually, Nick did manage to reach the shore, and he slowly pulled himself out of the water, setting Judy down on the ground before collapsing next to her.

As the two of them continued to catch their breath, Judy slowly turned her head to face Nick and said something that the fox didn't really expect to hear.

"Do you know how to drive a stick shift?"

"What?" asked Nick, confused as he turned to face Judy.

"I think the fall might have done something to my leg. Obviously, that means I can't drive, which means I need you to take us back home."

Nick was a little reluctant to believe her at first, thinking that she was just saying it to escape having to get back in that monstrosity, but as he slowly managed to lift his head, he saw that Judy's ankle was pretty swollen.

Judy ended up catching the wince that Nick gave and looked towards where he was looking to find the injury. Surprisingly, though, she was strangely calm about it as she looked back towards Nick.

"Oh, so that's why my foot hurt so much. Hey, would you mind taking me to the hospital instead?"

It was then that Judy passed out, and Nick, nearly panicking, worked through his fatigue as he picked Judy up and began carrying her in his arms.

It took a few minutes of traveling, but Nick finally managed to make it to the end of the beach area and back on the road, eventually reaching the cruiser they came in on.

After carefully setting Judy on to the passenger seat and buckling her in, Nick pulled himself into the driver's seat before pausing.

Luckily, Judy must have been loopy from the pain she was going through, because when Nick looked at the gear selector, he found that it was an automatic shifter, which was much easier to handle.

Smiling, he turned the car on before shifting the car into reverse.

Unfortunately, this led to another issue. While the contraption that Judy put together was perfect for her to be able to handle driving the much too large cruiser, he had a bit of difficulty. He ended up having to contort himself into a very awkward position so that he would be able to reach the wheel as well as hit the pedals reliably with the extensions.

Somehow, though, he was able to pull the cruiser out of the spot they were in, and the two of them began slowly making their way back to the city.

* * *

Eventually, just when Nick's legs were beginning to cramp up, they finally passed back into Savannah Central, and it didn't take long before he pulled up into Zootopia General, parking off to the side so that they didn't interfere with any more urgent cases.

After putting the cruiser into park, Nick stood up on the seat, shaking the tingly feeling out of his legs before climbing over and releasing Judy from her seatbelt, which actually did its job in preventing her from moving too much.

Picking her up once again, Nick placed her down temporarily in his seat before pushing the door open, picking her back up and carrying her outside before closing it behind him.

"Man Carrots, you're kind of heavy for a bunny." said Nick even though Judy wouldn't be able to hear him.

Readjusting his grip, Nick carried Judy into the hospital and up to the receptionist, who eyed the smaller bunny in the arms of the bigger fox before finally speaking.

"Can I help you two?"

"Uh, yes, you actually can." said Nick, adopting a calm expression on his muzzle to avoid causing any undue tension. "Is there a doctor available that can check on my friend here? She hurt her ankle, and it's possible there might be some other injuries that I'm not aware of."

The receptionist, a gazelle, glanced over at the nearby clock before moving her focus over to the computer screen. Nick could hear some furious typing going on for the next few seconds before the receptionist looked back at the two of them.

"Luckily for you, it's been a slow night tonight, so I do have Dr. Sloth available."

Nick immediately winced, realizing that Judy was going to kill him if the doctor turned out to be who he thought, so he quickly shook his head.

"Uh, no offense, but do you have someone a little…faster?" he asked, plastering on a toothy grin.

The receptionist stared at Nick for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and returning to the computer.

After a few more seconds of typing, the receptionist came up with a Dr. Clawhauser being available, and Nick's eyebrows immediately rose due to the eerie coincidence. Still, he did seem like a step up compared to a sloth, so he was more than willing to take the opportunity.

Nick waited awkwardly as the receptionist paged the doctor over the intercom, and after a couple of minutes, a cheetah came through the double doors which appeared to Nick as if the Clawhauser he met in the precinct had actually went on a diet and lost half his weight.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Michael Clawhauser. Is this our patient here?" he asked, looking down at Judy after coming forwards to greet Nick.

"Yes, she is. I'm Nick Wilde, by the way."

Smiling, Dr. Clawhauser nodded and shook Nick's outstretched paw before gesturing for Nick to follow him. Once the three of them passed through the double doors and began walking through the hallways of the hospital, Nick knew he had to satiate his curiosity, so he turned towards the doctor as he spoke.

"You know, I was wondering. Is there any chance that you know a cheetah that happens to work for the ZPD? You kind of remind me about him."

"Oh, are you talking about Ben?" asked Dr. Clawhauser as he looked towards Nick without breaking stride.

Nick nodded.

"Well, Ben's actually my twin brother, so I can understand if you can see some similarities. As I'm sure you can imagine, though, we've taken our lives in different directions."

"That's a shame." said Nick.

"Oh no, I don't mean it like that! We still talk quite a bit! Ben's just very busy dealing with his job." said Dr. Clawhauser.

"Well, that's good!"

Dr. Clawhauser nodded and turned to face forwards just as they reached the room where he was leading them to.

Once the three of them made their way inside and Nick set Judy on one of the chairs, Dr. Clawhauser took a look at Judy's leg, which thankfully was still in the state it was when Nick first saw it back at the beach, so that meant it didn't get infected or anything.

"So, I'm curious." said Dr. Clawhauser as he continued to study her leg. "How did she end up injuring herself like this? It's one in the morning. Being a cop, I figured she'd be asleep by now."

"Well, here's the thing." said Nick, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "We…ended up falling out of a sewer pipe into the ocean."

Dr. Clawhauser's eyes noticeably widened, whipping his head around to face Nick as he registered what he said.

"And…how high would you say that drop was?"

"Uh, I dunno. Forty…maybe fifty feet?" said Nick, shrugging.

Dr. Clawhauser's eyes somehow managed to widen even further as he struggled to register just how they managed to survive a drop that would be suicidal.

However, his medical training kicked in, and he quickly pointed towards Nick.

"You. In the chair. Now."

Nick, bewildered, took a few seconds to realize what the doctor was saying, but he did eventually sit down in the chair, and waited as the doctor poked and prodded all along his body.

Nick was confused for a few moments as he watched Dr. Clawhauser examine him before he immediately let out an involuntary yelp of pain.

"What was that?"

"It might be a broken rib, or at least a bruised one. Can't tell for sure unless I get an x-ray." mused Dr. Clawhauser as he stood up once more.

"Wow. How did I not feel that?" asked Nick, bewildered by the sudden onset of pain.

"Must've been the adrenaline. Frankly, I'm not surprised considering what you two have survived."

Nick watched, his eyes wide as Dr. Clawhauser scribbled some notes on a nearby clipboard.

"Unfortunately, you two are going to need surgery. We're also going to need to get x-rays and some other tests done for both of you so that we can make sure that there's nothing else we need to fix. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Without waiting for an answer, Dr. Clawhauser left through the door, leaving Nick in silence as his ribs began to throb.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Nick shifted his body into a more comfortable position before looking over at Judy, who surprisingly ended up taking that exact opportunity to wake up, groaning heavily as her bones cracked in protest.

"Ugh…Nick, what happened?" she asked when she looked over and saw Nick smiling at her.

Nick was more than prepared to simply explain what happened, but he decided to have a bit of fun with her.

"Congrats, Carrots. You and I managed to survive a fifty foot fall into water. Just imagine what your kits will think when you tell them that story."

Judy was pleasantly surprised to hear what she managed to live through, but after a few seconds, her eyes widened when the events of their adventure at the asylum came back to her.

Scrambling, her paws eventually reached down her vest. After a few seconds of tense silence, Judy sighed in relief when the evidence bag with the sheep wool came up slightly soggy, but still in one piece, along with her phone that she sealed in the bag before going down the toilet.

Setting the bag down next to her, Judy glanced over towards Nick, who was busy checking his own phone for damage, and from the way his eyebrows rose, she figured that it somehow managed to survive, which was a relief.

Unfortunately, just as she was about to ask Nick about what he thought about what they could do next, Dr. Clawhauser came through the door, his clipboard in his paw.

Judy's eyes quickly widened after seeing the doctor's face, but before she could ask about him, Dr. Clawhauser beat her to the punch.

"Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked, smiling.

"Like I flew into a brick wall at thirty miles an hour."

Even though Dr. Clawhauser had a general idea of what she was going through, he still noticeably winced at Judy's blunt description of her condition.

"Anyway, we've got all of the tests set up for you. All we need to do is get you over there."

Judy, realizing what was going on, looked over to Nick and gave him the sweetest look she could muster.

"Can you carry me, Nick?"

Nick gave her his normal half-lidded stare, a comeback already in his mind, but before he could do so, Dr. Clawhauser once again spoke up first.

"I wouldn't worry about that. I've got a wheelchair just outside for you. Besides, I don't want to put any more stress on Nick's ribs."

Nick resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her, instead giving Judy a look of victory.

As for Judy, she grumbled silently as Dr. Clawhauser brought in the wheelchair as promised, and as Nick carefully followed close behind Judy, they both hoped that this wouldn't delay their progress in solving the case.


	20. Chapter 20

Unfortunately, Nick and Judy ended up being stuck in the hospital for longer than they expected, especially once Dr. Clawhauser found out exactly what the two of them were dealing with.

Besides the swollen ankle, Judy had a hairline fracture in her tailbone (which made sitting down the absolute worst thing in the world), a minor stinger, and some bumps and bruises from the impact with the water.

As for Nick, he had it a bit luckier than Judy. While the bruised ribs did make it difficult for him to be able to breathe fully, the only real injury he had other than the normal bumps and bruises was a dislocated shoulder, which Nick was admittedly unsure of whether it came from the fall or having to contort himself to drive the car. Maybe both. Not being able to feel it thanks to the adrenaline he was on before didn't help matters, either.

Thankfully, Dr. Clawhauser was experienced with dealing with this type of injury. It didn't make it any less painful for Nick, though.

* * *

After the tests were completed and the two of them were notified of what had happened, Dr. Clawhauser grabbed Nick's paw, lifting it up so that his arm was sticking straight out in front of him.

"What are you doing?" asked Nick, wincing as he felt his shoulder start to sting thanks to Dr. Clawhauser slowly beginning to rotate it around.

His question was soon answered by a jolt of pain shooting through his arm after Dr. Clawhauser pushed it back into its socket.

Dr. Clawhauser waited for Nick to stop yelling in pain before he finally explained himself.

"Sorry about that. I needed to pop your shoulder back into its socket so it could heal properly. Otherwise there was a good chance you might not be able to use your arm."

Even though Nick was very much surprised at how close he came to essentially being a one-armed fox, he quickly managed to hide his true feelings about the matter by adopting a passive look on his muzzle.

"Well, that's good." he joked. "I'd hate to have to find work as a slot machine."

The room fell silent for a few moments before Nick could hear a fit of giggling coming from the seat near him.

"God Nick, that was so bad." said Judy, even though her giggling was telling Nick the complete opposite of what she was saying. "Ow..ow…I think my ribs are starting to hurt!"

"Your ribs are fine, Officer Hopps." said Dr. Clawhauser, somehow managing to keep himself composed despite the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "I checked them myself, remember?"

Judy was barely listening to what Dr. Clawhauser was saying considering she was still in the middle of giggling, but thankfully it was beginning to taper off. Nick, however, was playfully bowing, taking in the appreciation coming from his audience.

Eventually, the laughing soon subsided, and as Judy began carefully massaging her ribs to relieve the stress they were put under, Dr. Clawhauser took the opportunity to put out some more details about what was going to happen.

"Alright, now that we're settled, I just wanted to let you guys know that thankfully you two won't need any surgery. However, we will need to monitor the two of you for the next couple of days to make sure that all of the damage heals, especially with the stinger you suffered, Officer Hopps. I know how dangerous those can be sometimes."

Judy was admittedly a little nervous, having been told by Dr. Clawhauser before that there was a minor possibility that stingers could lead to nerve damage.

Thankfully, there was no sign of any damage with her, but it still didn't make her feel a whole lot better.

"Wait, what about the ZPD? I can't just miss that many days of work!" said Judy, her eyes wide as she realized the implications of what was going on. "I've got an important case! My job's on the line here!"

Nick glanced over at Judy, a flash of anger showing in his eyes as he heard what she had just said, but before he could confront her about it, Dr. Clawhauser spoke up.

"Don't worry about it, Officer Hopps."

"Please, just call me Judy."

"Of course. Judy, I'll take care of notifying Chief Bogo. I've helped take care of enough of his officers that I know him quite well. Having Ben there certainly helps, too."

Judy was still a little wary, knowing from experience how Bogo handles these kinds of less-than-ideal circumstances, but by the time she opened her mouth to try and convince him to tread lightly around the cape buffalo, Dr. Clawhauser had already made his way through the door, an audible click sounding as the door closed behind him.

Sighing heavily, Judy stared into space as she wondered just what Chief Bogo would think knowing what she'd gotten herself in to. Sure, it was for the case, but she'd still put herself into an unnecessary amount of danger by agreeing with Nick to go along to the Asylum.

Thankfully, Judy was able to distract herself from her thoughts thanks to Nick speaking up, but his tone came as a bit of a surprise to her.

"Seriously, Carrots? My job's on the line! What am I, chopped liver?" he said, adopting a higher-pitched voice as he repeated what Judy said.

"Don't get me wrong, Nick, you've been a big help. I just worded it that way considering you're not actually a part of the ZPD…yet." she quickly amended, unsure if he even made a decision about what he was going to do about signing up.

Nick, however, was unimpressed, giving Judy a flat look.

"I see how it is. You're just using me as a stepping stone to get back in good graces with Chief Buffalo Butt, aren't you? I'm just a means to an end…just a fox."

"Nick, no! You're way more than that!"

"Oh really? Then why were you carrying around a bottle of fox repellant around everywhere you went with me?"

Judy's eyes widened, stunned as Nick nodded his head in understanding.

"Yeah, I saw that bottle on your belt first day we met. Don't think I wasn't paying attention, because I was."

Nick sighed heavily, staring up into the ceiling as Judy looked on, hurt.

"Just when I thought there was someone who'd finally trust me. I think it might be better if a fox wasn't your partner."

Despite the amount of pain he was in, Nick picked himself up off of the chair he was sitting in, tossing a folded-up piece of paper on to Judy's lap before making his way over to the door.

"Nick, wait!"

Nick ignored her, though, using his uninjured arm to open the door and walking through, shutting it behind him.

As for Judy, all she could do was stare blankly at the door in front of her, stunned as the fox that she was just beginning to think of as a real friend was now gone.

Looking downwards, she reached down and unfolded the paper, only to realize to her shock that it was a new, crisp ZPD application form, completely filled out. She assumed that Nick must have gotten a new copy after hers was destroyed in the river under Mr. Big's house.

Judy considered just throwing the paper away, but just as she was about to crumple it up, she realized that she couldn't. Sighing heavily, she folded the paper back up before sticking it into her pocket and dropping her head into her paws, resisting the urge to cry.

* * *

Unfortunately for Nick, Dr. Clawhauser managed to catch him attempting to leave and forced him to return to the room.

This did end up ruining a bit of the finality of what Nick had said to Judy, but he was able to finagle the doctor into getting a screen around his bed so that he freely avoid having to look at the bunny across the room from him. He wanted a completely separate room, but Dr. Clawhauser wasn't willing to budge on that fact, so he had to take what he could get.

As for Judy, what she predicted about what Bogo thought of what she did turned out to be right on the money. The cape buffalo was none too happy about what she did, but his anger was tempered a bit when Dr. Clawhauser let Judy speak, and she mentioned the sheep wool she found, which somehow managed to save her from getting parking duty for the next month. It still didn't help her mood, though.

The recovery period was spent mostly in silence, though, as Nick refused to talk to her, and Judy was too distraught by what had happened between the two of them to say anything anyway.

Eventually, the day came when the both of them were going to be released from the hospital, but when Judy woke up, she saw that Nick had already left, and the only mammal in the room besides her was Dr. Clawhauser.

After asking where Nick went, she could see the strained look on the cheetah's muzzle as he answered.

"Nick asked to be released before you woke up. I'm assuming that he didn't want to speak with you. Sorry, Judy." he said, quickly apologizing when he saw the hurt look on the rabbit's face.

"It's fine." she said dully, even though her expression showed that she was anything but fine.

* * *

Once all of the paperwork was completed, Judy was sent on her way, but rather than feel excited for the chance to get back to work, Judy was noticeably depressed, even to the point where some of the mammals she passed by on the way back to the precinct gave her looks of sympathy…or possibly pity. She could never really tell.

Once she made her way through the doors into the precinct, her eyes were still almost glued to the floor, but she could feel Clawhauser's eyes boring into her as he noticed her arrival.

"Hey, Judy! Glad to see you're alright." he said, smiling.

However, it was then that he noticed the glum look on her face, and the smile soon disappeared.

"What's wrong, Judy? You look pretty down in the dumps."

Judy initially didn't really want to say anything, but after seeing the look on Clawhauser's muzzle that made it look like he wanted nothing more in the world than to listen to what was eating her, she sighed before finally speaking up.

"I think I really messed things up, Ben."

"How so? I remember hearing you and your friend talking about how well the case was going." said Clawhauser, confused.

"No, it's not about the case. I messed things up with Nick!"

It was then that Clawhauser winced, but he remained silent, allowing Judy to continue.

"We were working so well together, and I did something incredibly stupid and said that I was only doing this case to save my job."

"Well…isn't that technically true?"

"Yeah, but Nick thought that I was just using him to save my butt here at the precinct. I told him that I never even considered that fact, but he stormed out on me before I could even try to convince him."

Judy looked up after finishing her explanation, noticing that Clawhauser had his paws up against his muzzle, having just gasped in shock as he listened to what Judy had to say.

"God Judy, I'm so sorry to hear about that."

Clawhauser fell silent for a few moments, but just when Judy was about to speak again, he spoke up once more, a noticeably brighter look on his muzzle.

"Look on the bright side, though! You can fully concentrate on getting the case solved now. You'll be a real cop in no time!"

"You don't understand, Ben! If I just went ahead and solved the case by myself, I might as well just be proving to Nick that he was just a stepping stone in my eyes. I can't do that!"

Judy sighed, pressing her paws into her face.

"It's just not worth it anymore. I'm going to go up to Chief Bogo's office and hand in my badge."

"What?" said Clawhauser, gasping in shock once more. "You can't just quit when you're so close to solving this!"

Instead of arguing back, Judy closed her eyes for a few moments, collecting her thoughts before giving Clawhauser a more measured answer to his outburst.

"Ben, I became a cop because I wanted to make the world a better place. How can I do that when I'm thinking more of my own problems than the problems that the citizens have?"

Clawhauser opened his mouth to argue when he realized that what Judy said was a hundred percent true. Shutting his mouth with an audible click, the cheetah looked downcast as he realized what was going to happen next.

"I really wish that you didn't have to leave, Judy. I know that we've only known each other for…what…a week or so maybe? Still, I had a lot of fun spending time with you."

"Thanks, Ben. I appreciate it."

After spending a few seconds steeling her nerve, Judy began her walk up to Chief Bogo's office, ready to move on with her life.

* * *

 **Apologies for the slightly shorter chapter than normal. Usually I'd find some way to get it up to my normal range in terms of word count, but I think that this is a really good place for me to stop, and I really don't want to just extend one of the earlier scenes for no reason.**

 **Anyway, as you can probably imagine from where the plot's going, we're almost reaching the end of the story. There's probably only going to be another chapter or two before the climax, and then things will start to wind down soon after. I'm aiming for around twenty-five chapters, but obviously that's subject to change depending on how into the writing I get.**

 **And yes, I wasn't originally planning on doing a breakup scene with them (like with the press conference), but I really got into the way things started out during that scene and it ended up snowballing from there, so sorry if things felt a little out of nowhere, at least in Nick's case. I did make an effort to make it more realistic, so hopefully that works.**


	21. Chapter 21

Predictably, Chief Bogo was surprised to find Judy handing her badge over to him when she was let into his office. However, unlike Clawhauser, he was a little bit more understanding when it came to why she made this decision.

Still, it didn't stop him from trying his best to convince her to reconsider.

"Hopps, I get where you're coming from, but I urge you to give some thought to this. You've put nearly eight months of work into realizing your dream, and you're just throwing it all away because of one incident where you failed to put your interests behind another?"

"It's not just because of that, Chief!"

Bogo blinked owlishly at Judy, not expecting the amount of force that came from her outburst, but before he could say anything more, Judy spoke up.

"I know that it probably wasn't the right decision to ask Nick to help me solve the case you gave me, but I was actually beginning to think of him as a friend, even if there were moments where I wanted nothing more than to strangle him."

Bogo's eyes widened slightly at the mention of how Nick was willingly helping her with the case, but he remained silent, allowing her to continue.

"Believe it or not, we were actually starting to get somewhere working together."

"Yes, I've heard about the sheep wool you brought in today. Frankly, I'm surprised that we missed that. I do wish that you would've just brought it in to Forensics, though. It would have saved you a lot of trouble." commented Bogo.

"Sorry about that, Chief. I hadn't really thought about that." apologized Judy.

"Please continue."

At Bogo's urging, Judy cleared her throat before continuing on with her explanation.

"If I didn't make what I said at the hospital sound like I was using him just because he was a fox, though, I wouldn't have ruined my friendship with him, and we'd probably be getting closer to cracking the case…together."

Judy inwardly sighed, closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again as she stared Chief Bogo in the eye from her position on the oversized chair.

"I'm really sorry for leaving you high and dry for this case, chief, but I feel that if I went ahead and solved it on my own, I might as well have just proved to Nick that what he said about me was right, and I can't do that. I'm not that kind of mammal."

Judy fell silent, clasping her paws together as she watched Chief Bogo process the information in his head. Eventually, though, the cape buffalo sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hoof before finally replying.

"Honestly, I do wish you would reconsider your decision. As I've mentioned to you before I even gave you that case, new recruits have been drying up a bit. However, if you feel that you're not fit for this job, I'm not going to stop you."

Bogo reached over and placed his hoof on top of Judy's badge, sliding it across to his side of the desk.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir. I'll never forget it."

Judy stood up on the chair and saluted Bogo before hopping off and heading for the door. However, just as she was about to reach up and open it, she was interrupted.

"Hopps."

With her paw inches away from the doorknob, Judy turned her head back towards where Bogo was, waiting to see what he would say.

Bogo didn't speak immediately, instead letting out a heavy sigh before finally saying what he wanted.

"As much as I normally don't do this sort of thing…if you do end up reconsidering, I'm willing to leave the door open for you to return to your position here. However, you will still be required to pass a physical to return to active duty if and when you make that decision. I can't just flout all of the rules." he said, a small smile on his snout as he spoke.

Judy stood, slightly stunned as she registered what Bogo had said. Soon enough, though, she was finally brought back to Earth, and she saluted once more.

"Thank you, sir. I'll keep that in mind."

She was still pretty resolute in her decision that she wasn't fit for the job, but Judy was always one to keep her avenues open if an opportunity came along, so as Bogo returned the salute and she exited his office, she hoped that there was at least someone somewhere in Zootopia who would be open to giving her a job and allow her to move on with her life.

* * *

Unfortunately, finding another job for someone of her skillset was next to impossible in the city. She wasn't exactly the wide-eyed optimist that she was when she first arrived in Zootopia (Nick had dealt with that on the day they met), but it still dismayed her to find that a lot of the jobs she tried to apply for led to her being tossed out on her butt with a cry that usually went along the lines of her going back to being a carrot farmer.

Eventually, having run out of options, Judy decided that the only thing that she could do was to return home, so after packing up her meager amount of clothes and other items and offering to pay off the rest of her lease to Mrs. Armadillo (she declined), Judy headed for the train station, hopping on to the first train back to Bunnyburrow.

* * *

A few days have passed since Judy left Zootopia and returned to Bunnyburrow. While her parents were noticeably surprised to see her pop up on their doorstep without any real warning (Judy apologized for forgetting to call), they both were more than willing to accept her back into the fold.

During one morning, Judy found herself manning a produce stand along a barren countryside road just outside of the Hopps farm, Stu and Bonnie standing by while she worked on selling the product.

"A dozen carrots. Have a nice day." said Judy, handing over a small bundle of carrots wrapped in newspaper to a customer.

The day was going by pretty well so far, with their produce selling relatively well. However, it was pretty clear to both Stu and Bonnie that their daughter's heart just wasn't in it, if her depressed expression was anything to show for it, not to mention her sunhat being positioned on her head in a way that she really didn't want anyone to see her fully.

As Judy placed her arm on the counter and rested her head on her outstretched fist, Stu and Bonnie traded looks before agreeing that something needed to be done. Walking over to where Judy was currently staring into space, Stu cleared his throat before finally deciding to start the conversation.

"Hey there Jude…Jude the Dude. How are we doing?" he asked, chuckling a bit at the use of his usual nickname for her.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. Your ears are drooping." said Bonnie, seeing right through Judy's attempt to dodge the question.

Judy, meanwhile, sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to get away from this so easily.

"Why did I think I'd be able to make a difference?"

"Well, that's because you're a tryer." said Stu.

"You've always been a tryer." agreed Bonnie.

"Well sure, I've tried, but all I've done is let my backwards thinking from spending my entire childhood here get in the way of actually making Zootopia a better place. No offense, by the way."

"None taken." said Stu.

"To be honest, though, everyone makes mistakes. That's no reason just to mope around and think that your life is over just because of one thing that you said." said Bonnie.

"Well, it may have been an accident, but I did still show that I have trouble getting past the fact that Nick was still a fox. What makes you think I won't make that mistake again when I happen to run into another?" said Judy, her voice rising a bit as she spoke, almost sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Bonnie was admittedly a little surprised to just what her daughter was currently going through, but just as she was about to go over and comfort her in the best way she could, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a car horn honking as they were greeted by a delivery van pulling up to the stand.

"Speak of the devil, he's right on time. Here's your chance, Jude." said Stu as he noticed who was driving said van.

"Is that…Gideon Grey?" asked Judy as she watched the fox in question bring the van to a stop and hop out of the driver's seat.

"Yep, that's him. We're working with him now." said Stu, hooking his thumbs under his suspenders as he stood proud of what they'd managed to do.

"And we wouldn't have even considered it if you hadn't opened our eyes, Judy." said Bonnie, smiling.

"Heck, he's even become one of the best bakers in the Tri-Burrows, if you can believe it."

After a few seconds of looking at the van adorned with the logo of what she assumed was Gideon's business, Judy turned her head to face her parents, a stunned expression on her face as she began to realize just how much she overreacted.

"Wow…that's really cool, you guys." she said before walking around the stand and over to the van.

As she reached the back end of the van where the doors were opened, she was greeted with the sight of Gideon digging around in the back of his van looking for the Hopps' order.

"Gideon Grey…well I'll be darned."

Gideon had definitely seen Judy when he pulled up to the stand, so while he was busy searching for the pies, he was busy formulating the apology to Judy that he was waiting to give ever since he went through therapy and realized what he'd done when he was young.

Still, he didn't expect Judy to actually come to him, so he nearly ended up dropping one of his pies in surprise. Thankfully, though, he was able to regain control of it, so after placing it back on the tray behind him, he turned to face Judy, nervously wringing his paws as he began speaking.

"Listen Judy, I-I'm sorry for the way I treated you while we were young. I-I had a lot of self-doubt, and it manifested itself in unchecked rage and aggression. Honestly, I was a real jerk."

"Well, I guess I know a thing or two about being a jerk." commented Judy, looking away for a second as she remembered what she did back then. Sure, it was in self-defense, but it didn't make her look any better.

"You know, I am kind of surprised to see you back home." said Gideon as he started collecting the pies that Judy's parents had ordered. "I figured that you'd still be in the big city, being a cop and everything."

"Well, I was…but things didn't exactly work out. I met this guy on my first day on the job. He was a fox, like you."

Gideon's eyes noticeably widened, the rotund fox being pleasantly surprised to hear what she had said.

"I'm glad to hear that you're not letting what happened between us color your experiences with other foxes."

"It was like that at first. We were solving a case about a predator gunned down in broad daylight, but before we could crack it, I said something incredibly stupid, and Nick got angry. He said I was just using him to get ahead."

Gideon's expression noticeably dipped after hearing how things fell apart. Judy watched as the former bully looked to be lost in thought for a few seconds before he finally spoke up once more.

"I may not exactly speak for your friend, but if I was in his place I-I'd probably want a heartfelt apology from you if I want to be friends again."

"Yeah, but how would I do that?"

"Maybe you should just speak from your heart. I'm sure you'll find the best way to apologize to him."

Judy paused, considering what Gideon had said. To be fair, she did have a pretty good idea that Gideon was only really doing this as an apology for their interactions during both of their childhoods, but she could see that the fox did have a very good point. Trying to have a prepared statement would just make things awkward, especially with how stilted Gideon's own apology sounded.

A small smile on her face, Judy turned towards Gideon, who by that point had already handed the pies off to Stu and Bonnie, the rabbits temporarily setting them on the produce stand as they quietly watched.

"Thanks, Gideon. I'll keep that in mind. I do have one question, though."

"Shoot."

"What you just said to me…is that something that your therapist said to you? I'm just curious."

"Well…yeah, it is." said Gideon, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "I still think that it kind of applies to you as well, though, to be fair."

Gideon was still admittedly a little nervous, but after seeing Judy give out another smile, his nerves were settled when he realized that she was finally willing to look past what happened before.

The moment was soon broken, though, when Stu stepped forwards, once again hooking his thumbs behind his suspenders as Bonnie started taking the pies into the house.

"Well…I'm glad to see you two are finally starting to make up."

"I wouldn't consider it 'making up' quite yet, dad. We're only at the point where I know that he's not going to throttle me if I'm alone in a room with him. I might even be alright with talking to him every so often as well."

Stu glanced over at Gideon only to see the fox with a nonplussed look on his muzzle. It was a little difficult to tell what Gideon thought of Judy's blunt assessment of where the two of them were in their platonic relationship status, but to be fair even Stu thought that they would have been rushing things if Judy went any higher of a level than tolerating.

Deciding to let that factor go, Stu turned towards his daughter as he realized a few minutes ago during Judy and Gideon's conversation that there was something he needed to share.

"Anyway Jude, there's something I need to tell you. Remember when you mentioned about how you were working on that predator murdered in broad daylight?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Judy, confused.

"Well, Bonnie told me last night that she heard something about another murder being committed on the news. Apparently, the details behind this one were actually pretty similar to the one you mentioned, with a predator being gunned down in broad daylight. They even mentioned a third one that happened even before that one! Isn't that just strange?"

Judy inwardly agreed that it was in fact strange, but the rest of her brain was trying to register just how eerie this coincidence was, with three almost identical murders being committed within the span of around a month or two.

Judy quickly checked her phone before quickly running into the house, leaving Stu and Gideon looking on, confused.

As for Judy herself, she was luckily able to commandeer one of the TVs from a group of her sisters, turning it to ZNN news, where what was happening on the screen almost made her jaw drop in shock.

"There is chaos on the streets today as predators are protesting against the ZPD for what is perceived as their lack of response against what is now a third member of their population being gunned down in broad daylight." said Peter Moosebridge.

"We go now to Chief Bogo on the steps of Precinct One as he outlines his plans to prevent these acts of violence."

Fabienne Growley's picture was replaced with a live feed of Chief Bogo on the steps as promised, but Judy was barely listening, realizing that things are now getting worse.

"I have to go back."

Judy set the remote down, rushing back out of the door as she rejoined Stu and Gideon who had barely moved since she left them.

"I'm sorry, dad, but I really have to go back. If I don't do something, the predator population is going to tear the city apart!"

"I understand, Judy. You do what you have to do." said Stu.

Judy was momentarily surprised to hear how easy it was for her to convince her dad, but she soon managed to shake it off.

"Bye, dad." she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before rushing towards the Hopps family truck.

However, she quickly realized that she forgot something important, quickly turning around as she raised her paw into the air.

"Oh, keys, keys!"

It took a few seconds, but Stu soon realized what Judy was talking about. He fished around in his pockets for a few seconds before pulling out the keys and tossing them to Judy.

"Thanks, dad! I love you!"

Without waiting for an answer, Judy hopped into the truck, and as it pulled away down the dirt road, Stu couldn't help but smile knowing that his daughter was going to do anything to save the city from itself.


	22. Chapter 22

As the dirt roads of the Tri-Burrows began to change into the paved highways heading into Zootopia, Judy was trying her hardest to get back to the city as quickly as possible. While she was doing so, though, she couldn't help but try to figure out the best way to start her apology to Nick.

While she clearly remembered the advice that Gideon gave her not too long ago, she was still unable to help herself. It was only natural, considering she wanted to make every effort not to make another mistake.

Unfortunately, thinking of what to say proved to be way more difficult than she expected.

Even if there was just a minute amount of truth to it, she could never blame her upbringing for what she had said. Sure, most mammals tend to think of others who live outside of Zootopia as more 'behind the times' than they are, but that's more of a generalization than anything thanks to what's been on TV.

Stu and Bonnie, however, have done much more than one would expect to break the expected stereotype. Admittedly, being comfortable as a carrot farmer can tend to rub mammals the wrong way, but Judy understood that it was being a rabbit that made them tend to think like that.

Zootopia's skyline soon began to show over the horizon as Judy continued to drive, eventually taking an exit that would lead her to Savannah Central. As she came to a stop at a red light, though, she sighed, realizing that she still had no idea as to exactly why she said those hurtful things to Nick.

Sighing, she pressed her paws to her face, letting them slide down and back on to the wheel just as the light turned green.

However, as she began driving again, her free paw involuntarily flew to her left cheek, where she could still feel the faded scars of that one incident, where the fur was slightly shorter than the rest.

She was admittedly surprised that she completely forgot about it until now. To be fair, she had a lot more pressing matters to attend to with her life, but it almost felt like there was nothing there.

Still, as she registered the fact that the scars were still barely there, the memories of that incident flooded back to her, and she knew exactly what she was going to say to Nick.

The only problem, though, was finding him.

With the fox moving as much as he did, he could practically be anywhere within the city, and she couldn't afford to search around, especially considering how tense the situation with the predator population was getting.

Having only one real place that she knew he could possibly be, Judy began heading towards the darker parts of the city hoping that, much as it sounded pretty dark to her, Nick would be there and she wouldn't have to search around the city.

* * *

Fate wasn't smiling on her today, unfortunately, as when she reached Nick's apartment (which she was admittedly surprised she remembered was considering she'd only been there once), there was no sign of the fox anywhere, even with all of the piles of garbage limiting the space he could have been in.

Judy quickly vacated the premises once she was sure of the fact that there was no one else there, alerting the landlord that she was finished taking a look around.

Once she reached the outside, though, she sighed heavily, tugging at her ears in exasperation.

She briefly considered just ignoring the daunting task in front of her and start driving through the city in the hopes of running into him, but she soon realized just how stupid that would be even in her desperation.

However, just as she was about to head back to her truck and try and convince Mrs. Armadillo to let her stay on her original lease and get her apartment back, a seemingly random glance into a nearby alleyway led to her suddenly noticing something she clearly recognized within its boundaries.

"Wait a second…" she mused, ignoring the waiting truck in favor of taking a closer look.

It didn't take Judy long, though, to realize that the object that she was looking at was in fact Finnick's van, and her expression noticeably brightened as she realized she could use him to help her find Nick.

Judy lightly jogged to the backdoor, eagerly reaching up to knock before remembering what the fennec was like as she lightly knocked on the metal.

At first it seemed like nothing happened, but after a few seconds the door burst open, Judy forced to hop back a few inches once Finnick came out with a baseball bat in his paws.

"Who is it?" he yelled, angrily brandishing the bat before his expression softened after noticing Judy in front of him.

"I need to find Nick." said Judy, looking desperate.

"Why? So you can berate him some more? He told me what you said."

Judy's expression faltered after hearing what he said, but she quickly managed to pull herself together.

"Please…I know I made a huge mistake, and I want to do whatever I can to fix it, but I need your help to find him!"

Finnick paused, deciding whether or not to take Judy at her word. He was still pretty upset at her for what she had said, considering that even though he wasn't the focus of it, her words could still be construed as going against foxes in general.

Still, in the limited time he knew her, he found no reason to believe that she ever did anything for her own gain. Honestly, her determination to bring Nick in for an offense that was flimsy at best showed that she wanted nothing more than to make the world a better place. He could also tell thanks to years of experience of being able to read mammals that the fact that Nick was a fox never really crossed her mind.

Sighing heavily, Finnick tossed the bat back into the van, Judy clearly able to hear the wood clatter against the metal as the fennec began to speak.

"Last I saw Nick, he was at that one park a few blocks down from the main square…the one with the bridge, I believe. He spends a lot of time around there."

"Thank you so much, Finnick." said Judy, gesturing with her clasped together paws as she spoke.

She only received a grunt in reply, but she barely noticed considering she was already making her way over to her truck.

"I'm going to make things right! You're not going to regret putting your faith in me!" shouted Judy as she quickly turned back to the van during her journey over.

"I think I might have." mumbled Finnick as he slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Thankfully, the park that Finnick mentioned just happened to be one of the few she had visited while she was originally living here, so it didn't take her long to get there.

Unfortunately for her, Nick apparently wasn't one to hide around in plain sight, so she was forced to look around for him.

As she walked around the park calling his name, she eventually passed over the bridge that made this park stand out from the others in the city, but as she reached the grass at the end, her ears managed to pick up the sound of what appeared to be a lawn chair creaking.

Retracing her steps, she took a peek over the side of the bridge, the knot in her chest loosening as she saw Nick himself lounging in said lawn chair, a pair of aviator shades on his muzzle as he sipped some kind of drink that she couldn't really tell from where she was standing.

Quickly rushing back to the end of the bridge, Judy made her way over to where Nick was, coming to a stop just as she reached the lawn chair in question.

"Nick! Thank god I found you. I really need your help to prevent a full-scale riot from breaking out!"

Judy fell silent, catching her breath after having run all the way down from the top of the bridge as she waited to see what Nick would say. What she didn't expect to happen, though, was seeing Nick place his drink on the nearby table before pulling himself off of the chair.

"Really…that sounds interesting. Let me know once you figure out how to fix it." he said, an inflection of bitterness in his voice as he spoke.

Judy fell silent as she watched Nick slowly walk away from her, coming to a stop under the other end of the bridge. Quickly racking her brain, she raced after him, stopping a few feet away from him as she made every attempt to prevent him from running away.

"Nick, wait!" she said, sighing heavily before beginning to speak. "I completely understand if you still hate me. Frankly, I still hate myself for what I said to you. I was ignorant and small-minded, and you and all of the other predators in this city shouldn't have to suffer because of my mistakes. I have to fix this, but I can't do it without your help."

Judy paused for a few seconds, glancing at the still unmoving form of Nick as she began to choke up.

"And after this is over, if you still want to hate me for what I've done, I don't blame you. I was a…a horrible friend, and I hurt you…so bad." she said, her breath hitching as she tried to resist bursting into tears.

Still, Nick didn't move from his spot, so when Judy was finally able to see clearly, she knew that her only chance was to use her last resort.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Judy finally spoke up again, and unbeknownst to her, Nick's ear swiveled towards her direction, his resolve faltering a bit as he listened to her.

"Nick…back when I was nine, there was this bully. He was a fox, just like you." she said, only reluctantly revealing the species. "I still wanted to be a cop, even back then, so when I saw him harassing some of my friends over some tickets, I knew I had to protect them."

By this point, Nick had his entire head turned around, his jaw hanging open and his sunglasses removed as he begin to realize just how similar of a childhood the two of them had. Sure, she had it a little better than he did, but she did have some experience with prejudice like he did.

The rest of Nick's body soon joined his head facing towards Judy as she continued with her story, avoiding referring to Gideon by his name. She didn't immediately begin speaking, though, as when she noticed Nick looking towards her, she walked forwards, lightly pushing some of the fur on her cheek aside so that he could clearly see the faded scars still showing.

"This is what I got for trying to show that I wanted to be more than just a carrot farmer." she said. "I guess it didn't help that I kicked him in the face, either."

As Nick took a closer look, his curiosity overcoming him, Judy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she remembered the way her feet connected with Gideon's muzzle.

"Anyway, I managed to hide it pretty well from my friends, but I was terrified. I mean, who wouldn't be when you were as young as I was? Still, if I was going to be a police officer, I knew that I had to not be scared, so I kept it all in. Honestly, I was one of those mammals that really didn't know when to quit, so I suppose that helped me look past that."

Her story finally finished, Judy paused to collect her thoughts before she looked up at Nick.

"So, I may not have had it as bad as you, but I think I now understand what you were going through when they muzzled you. I won't hold anything against you if you disagree with me on that, though. I really was just being a dumb bunny."

Judy looked down at a patch of dirt in front of her, waiting to hear what Nick had to say as she fully expected him to be unwilling to forgive her.

However, something she didn't expect to see happen was Nick's arms wrapping around her in an unmistakable hug.

Overwhelmed by emotion now that she realized what his answer was, Judy planted her face up against Nick's shirt, sobbing as she registered the fact that things were now starting to go right for her.

"There, there…" said Nick, patting her back tenderly as Judy continued to cry. "Oh, you bunnies…so emotional."

Nick fell silent, continuing to comfort Judy as she cried.

Eventually, though, the sobbing soon began to slow down, and Nick noticed Judy lift her head, her watery eyes looking straight at him.

"So, do you forgive me?"

Nick paused, a little caught off guard by the question. While he did forgive her, he couldn't resist having a little fun with it, as he placed a finger against the underside of his muzzle, pretending to be lost in thought.

"Well…I suppose I'd be willing to forgive you if I get a little something in return."

Nick knew Judy fell for it hook, line and sinker when her eyes widened in surprise.

"What did you want?"

Nick continued his playful show, making it look like he was taking a while to decide even though he already knew what he wanted.

"I've heard some mammals around town mention that the Hopps family grows blueberries on their farm. If you happen to have some around, I think we can work something out."

Nick was fully expecting to have to tell Judy that he was joking once she said that she didn't have any with her, but to his surprise, she smiled brightly.

"Oh, I actually do have some in my truck! I guess my dad must have taken some with him as a snack when he was using it a few days ago and forgot to take it with him. You can have some of them if you'd like."

Nick was admittedly a little reluctant to go along with Judy's plan considering the blueberries were originally for Judy's father, but after a few seconds of debate in his mind, he soon realized that there was no real reason for him to worry. He could easily have picked some more if he was hungry.

So, even though he didn't actually expect to get some free blueberries out of it, Nick was more than eager to try them out, which by proxy made Judy happy.

As the two of them made their way over to the truck, Judy wiped her eyes on her sleeve, trying to at least make herself look somewhat presentable.

When the two of them finally made it inside said truck, though, and Nick finally laid eyes on the small basket of blueberries on the seat near him, Judy couldn't help but glance at the decent-sized wet patch on Nick's shirt.

She briefly considered making a crack about it, but she soon reconsidered, and as Judy pulled out of her parking spot and began making her way into the main part of the city, she wanted nothing more than to enjoy the fact that she had successfully managed to repair the friendship that she'd never thought she would have managed to do a few days ago.


	23. Chapter 23

As Nick and Judy made their way back into the main square, Judy couldn't help but notice the fact that Nick was popping blueberries into his mouth at a pretty decent pace, and she couldn't resist commenting on it.

"Looks like someone's really enjoying those day-old blueberries, I see."

Nick's eyes widened for a moment after registering the fact that the blueberries weren't exactly the freshest things in the world, but to Judy's surprise, she could see the fox shrug before tossing another in.

"Blueberries are like a fine wine, Carrots. They get better with age." he said wistfully as he chewed on one, flashing his teeth every so often.

"Maybe for you they would. We usually have to throw them out if they're not sold within two weeks."

"Well, you're wasting perfectly good blueberries, then. It's a shame, really."

Judy couldn't help but roll her eyes, choosing instead to focus on the road in front of her.

"So, where are we headed?" asked Nick as he tucked a pawful of blueberries into a handkerchief he had on him.

"Have you heard about that shooting last night on the news?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We're going to go take a look at the crime scene. I have reason to believe that this is connected with the one we were investigating, as well as one that happened before."

"Really? Sounds curious." said Nick, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yep. According to my dad, it's a similar MO, too."

Nick paused as he registered what Judy said.

"That sounds great and all, but do you even know where this crime scene is?"

Judy lifted a finger, opening her mouth for a second before she realized that she didn't actually know.

"Actually, no. My dad didn't give me any details."

She could hear an audible sigh coming from Nick.

"Well, why don't you just go back to the police and ask? I'm sure they'd be willing to give you the address."

"Well…" said Judy awkwardly. "I may have ended up quitting the force after what I did to you."

Even though Nick did kind of understand where Judy was coming from, she could still tell that he was upset that Judy didn't fully think her decision through, and by proxy end up making the investigation more difficult.

Thankfully, though, Judy was quickly able to explain herself.

"Not to worry, though. Chief Bogo said he'd leave the door open for me if I wanted to come back."

"Well, that's good! Let's go get you back in that uniform." said Nick, relieved that she didn't entirely screw things up.

"…on an unofficial basis."

Judy's offhanded addition to Nick's sentence earned her a questioning look from the fox, which forced her to elaborate.

"I'm supposed to pass a physical before they'll let me have my job back, but I'm hoping that they'll at least let me finish solving the case and then deal with that. As you can probably tell, we don't have a lot of time to waste."

Nick was admittedly a little wary about the odds of fully convincing Chief Bogo to follow along, but he shrugged, figuring that there was no reason not to give it a shot.

Soon enough, the two of them pulled into Precinct One's parking lot. However, just as Nick was about to make his way out of the truck, Judy held up a paw.

"How about you let me handle this one, Slick?"

Nick was admittedly a little bit surprised that Judy was willing to handle something like this all alone, but he chose not to protest.

"You sure? I'm sure I'd be able to find a way to convince Buffalo Butt to play along."

"Nah, I'm good. No offense, but I don't really want to make things any more complicated than they need to be."

Nick fell silent, registering Judy's explanation for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Fair enough. You have fun in there, Officer Toot-Toot."

Judy thankfully decided to ignore Nick's playful jibe, hopping out of the truck and shutting the door behind her, unable to help being a little nervous as she stared at the imposing structure of the precinct.

As for Nick, he shoved a few more blueberries into his maw, savoring the flavor.

* * *

Surprisingly, Judy's concerns were very much unfounded.

Clawhauser was ecstatic to see her back, if the near bone-crushing hug she had to endure was any indication. Even Chief Bogo was happy to see her, though he didn't show it very well.

Bogo had as many officers as he could spare on the murder cases, wanting to get it solved as soon as possible. Unfortunately, while they did manage to find another tuft of sheep wool at the crime scene, they were no closer to narrowing it down considering Zootopia's sheep population, so he was more than willing to get as much help as he could manage.

Even though Judy was technically considered a civilian, Bogo was desperate enough to get the culprit behind bars that he agreed with Judy's suggestion to delay the physical until the case was solved.

After welcoming her back to the force on an unofficial basis, Bogo shared the address of the crime scene, and Judy headed back out to the truck and hopped in, quickly noticing the fact that the basket of blueberries was empty.

"You must have been hungry, huh?"

"You know it."

Judy chose not to follow up on that comment, focusing on finding her way to the crime scene.

Unfortunately, considering she was driving a truck that was almost as old as she was, she didn't have a GPS to help lead her there. Thankfully, Nick was more than willing to take up the mantle, and after some time has passed, the two of them finally pulled up to the crime scene in question.

"Wow, what is it with murderers and dark alleys?" commented Nick as he took a look at the scene in question.

"I guess they have to find some way to hide their faces considering they're doing it in broad daylight. Come on, let's start searching."

Neither of them wasted any time as they started combing through the scene, Nick taking the inside of the alleyway and Judy taking the sidewalk just like last time.

This time, though, they managed to find a clue much quicker, as Judy's foot brushed against something as she was searching through a row of bushes against one of the buildings.

Confused, she hopped off of the landing the bushes were on before reaching into the area where she felt the object and pulled out something she didn't expect.

"What's a DVD doing here?" she mused quietly.

Judy studied the case for a few seconds, trying to see if there was anything interesting on it considering the odd place she found it in, but nothing interesting came up in her search.

Sighing, Judy decided to see if Nick would be able to find out anything about this, so she walked up to the mouth of the alleyway, figuring that it would most likely be better for him to come to her.

"Hey Nick! I think I found something!" she shouted, cupping her paws around her mouth so her voice would be able to project better.

While it was a little difficult for her to see into the alleyway considering that it was only a few steps brighter than the original crime scene they went through, she could barely see Nick perk up deep inside the darker area, abandoning his own search so that he could join her outside.

Eventually, he did end up coming into the light, and once he was fully visible, he came to a stop once he reached Judy, giving her a questioning look.

"What have you got?" he asked.

Judy held out the DVD in question, and Nick took it into his paw, studying it closely just like she did. However, she noticed the look of confusion on his muzzle, which did end up disappointing her a bit.

"It's a DVD. So what?"

"I found it shoved into one of the bushes over there." she said, pointing towards the bushes in question. "Don't you think it's kind of strange that a DVD would be in a place like that?"

Nick opened his muzzle, a dismissive comment already prepared in his mind, but as he thought about it, he realized that Judy did have a point.

Closing his muzzle with an audible click, Nick took a look at the DVD case once more, an intense look of concentration on his face as he appeared to be trying his best to connect the dots.

However, just when Judy was about to ask if he had managed to figure something out, Nick's expression quickly brightened, the fox snapping his fingers as something managed to finally click.

As Judy watched on with a puzzled look, Nick almost shoved the DVD case into her face in his excitement.

"Do you remember hearing about this movie before somewhere?" he asked as he pointed to the front cover.

"Yeah…that's Pig Hero 6. I remember seeing a few commercials for it on TV over the past couple of days. Where are you going with this?" asked Judy.

"Well…I specifically remember hearing that this movie isn't supposed to be in theaters for another two weeks." he said, holding up two fingers to emphasize his point. "I assume that you can probably figure out what that means."

Judy had a bit of trouble figuring it out at first, but after a few seconds of thought, her expression also brightened as she finally put two and two together.

"It's bootleg!" she said, smacking her fist into her other palm.

"Exactly! And there are only two mammals that we know of that engage in selling bootleg DVDs. One's most likely still in jail considering he tried to kill us, so that leaves just one mammal left."

"Duke Weaselton!"

Nick nodded, smiling as he was happy to see that Judy was finally managing to put things together.

"You ready to go chat up our little friend?"

"Let's go!" said Judy eagerly, rushing towards the truck as she pulled the door open and hopped in.

As for Nick, he sauntered over to the passenger side door, a half-lidded smirk on his muzzle as he couldn't help but feel happy knowing that Judy was fully back to her normal self after what had happened between them.

* * *

Unfortunately, in the weeks that have passed, Duke was released from his cell. Apparently according to Clawhauser, Wolford received a bit of a talking to from Chief Bogo for overstepping his boundaries, so Duke ended up getting let off with a warning.

This ended up making their search for him a bit more difficult, but only barely, as while the two of them were busy driving through the city, Judy's acute hearing managed to catch the telltale loudmouth voice of Weasleton himself.

As they pulled up to the street corner he was on, both Nick and Judy traded looks when they realized that Duke was doing just what they thought he would be doing, hocking bootleg DVDs.

"Well, what a surprise. You've definitely got some backbone to be doing the exact thing that got you arrested before, Weselton." said Nick as they walked up to the table where Duke was working.

Duke had just finished attempting to sell a DVD to an elderly goat when they walked up. Growling in annoyance, Duke pulled the toothpick out of his muzzle before angrily whipping around to face them.

"I'll have you know that what I'm doing is still not illegal, Wilde, and that copper that arrested me knows exactly why that's the case! And it's Weaselton!" he said, his anger flaring at being forced to remind Nick once again about the correct pronunciation of his name.

Unfortunately for Duke, Nick was unfazed by the outburst, but before either of them could say anything more, Judy stepped between them, facing towards Duke and placing her paws on her hips as she started speaking.

"So, Mr. Weastleton, we have reason to believe that you were in the vicinity when another predator was murdered in cold blood recently. Would you care to explain what you saw?" she asked, leaning closer to Duke as she spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I only ever heard about that on the news recently."

Judy was admittedly a little dismayed due to Duke clamming up, but she smirked when she remembered she had some pretty clear evidence.

"Oh yeah? Then why was one of your DVDs at the crime scene?" she asked, pulling out said DVD in question.

Duke's eyes noticeably widened as he looked at the case, unable to think of a way to get around this predicament he's gotten himself in.

Eventually, he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping as he decided it was best just to get it over with.

"Yeah, I was there. It was a few days after I was released. I was selling my DVDs on the sidewalk like I always do. Heck, I was even making a decent amount of money off of them!"

Judy could see Nick roll his eyes out of the corner of hers, but he didn't speak, so she allowed him to continue.

"Anyway, I was in the middle of selling one to this moose guy, when all of a sudden I heard gunfire! As you can imagine, I freaked out. Luckily, I only had a small amount of my stock out, so I packed them up in a hurry and skipped out. I guess I must have missed one, though." he said, gesturing towards the case in Judy's paw.

As for Judy herself, she was busy processing what Duke had said.

While she was a little disappointed that what Duke said had essentially been pretty much the same as what Buck said, she could tell from the expression on Duke's face that there was something else on his mind that he hadn't already said. The only problem was trying to figure out a way to get him to say it.

After a few moments of debating the right course of action, Judy stepped forwards a few inches, adopting a passive look on her face as she tried to avoid pushing him too far.

"Duke, did you see something else? I can tell there's something on your mind."

Judy immediately winced, knowing that she went over the line, but to her surprise, Duke was actually willing to talk.

"While I was trying to pack my stuff away, I caught a glimpse of someone in the alleyway."

Judy's eyes quickly widened at this new revelation, almost forgetting to pull out her notebook as Duke relayed what they looked like.

"I didn't get that good of a look, but the guy was pretty tall. I saw some horns and wool."

"That sounds like a ram." commented Judy. "Was there any distinguishing characteristics you saw?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, he had on this garish looking jumpsuit. It was bright green with red stripes on his sleeves. To be honest, I was kind of surprised he would wear something like that. Makes you stick out like a sore thumb."

"Well…thanks for the information, Duke. I really appreciate it." said Judy, not exactly prepared to have received this kind of information, but happy for it all the same.

Judy and Nick were about to head back to the truck to run this new information by the ZPD, but before they could get far, Duke suddenly spoke up once more.

"Hey, you know, I used to do some trades with some rams. We always met in this one place a few miles from here. Maybe if you go there, you might be able to find this guy."

Judy immediately stopped in her tracks, turning around as she brandished her notebook. After Duke shared the address with her, her and Nick prepared to head out once more, but as they headed towards the truck, Duke had one more thing to say.

"Hey, if this is the same guy I'm thinking of, be careful with him! He's the exact opposite of friendly!"


	24. Chapter 24

After finally leaving Duke to himself, Judy and Nick hopped back into the truck before heading off to the address that the weasel had given them.

As they made their way through the city, though, the two of them began to notice small pockets of protests popping up around the city, and it worried Judy greatly considering they were running out of time to solve this case.

As for Nick, he was trying his best to keep the tone light-hearted, so after a few minutes spent in silence, Nick decided it was worth trying to lighten the tension, especially after seeing the look of distress on Judy's face.

In an attempt to look as calm as possible, Nick tucked both of his arms behind his head, letting it rest on his outstretched paws as he studied the surroundings around him.

"Boy, looks like things are getting a little tense out there."

"Yep."

Nick paused, a little taken aback by Judy's short answer, but he kept moving along with his words, barely missing a beat.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Fluff. I'm sure that once we make our visit to this guy, everything will become clear."

Nick fell silent, waiting to see if Judy would agree with his sentiments. However, to his surprise, she ended up saying something he didn't really expect to hear.

"That's true, but I can't help but think that something's up. I mean, Duke said it himself. Why would someone wear something with bright colors if they're trying to hide their identity, especially against a dark background?"

The only thing that could be heard for the next few minutes was the low hum of the truck's engine, as both Nick and Judy were busy trying to figure out what the deal is with what she said.

Unexpectedly, though, it was actually Nick who spoke up first.

"I really doubt that this is a big issue, Carrots."

Nick could feel the incredulous look that Judy was giving him, but he quickly moved on in his explanation, not wanting to lose his train of thought.

"The alleyway we investigated this morning was very dark, remember?"

"Yeah, I could barely see you in there from out on the sidewalk." commented Judy as she nodded slowly.

"There! I think you're getting it now." he said, pointing towards Judy in excitement.

Unfortunately, Judy still wasn't exactly following completely, so he was forced to elaborate.

"Look at my shirt. It's a relatively bright color, right?"

Judy looked down at Nick's shirt as he asked, and it was at that point that she put two and two together, her eyes widening in recognition. However, it didn't take long before another question came into her mind.

"Okay, I'm getting you so far, but that doesn't explain how Duke was able to see the ram while he was busy running away."

"If I had to guess, they must have accidentally stuck a part of their body into the light. That's really the only way he would be able to see it as far as I can think of."

While Judy was admittedly a little unconvinced by the simple answer that Nick gave her, she really couldn't think of any other possibilities as to how Duke would have been able to see the ram despite him being in a dark alleyway, so she decided to go with it and move on.

It was just in time, too, as just when they finished their conversation, they pulled up to the address in question, which turned out to be an entrance to the underground subway.

After bringing the truck to a stop and hopping out, the two of them made their way over to the entrance, taking in the mesh gate blocking their path before Judy looked over at Nick.

"You ready to go?" she said, looking eager to get this over with.

Nick sighed heavily.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Without missing a beat, Nick stepped forwards, lifting up a broken part of the gate and letting Judy slip through before sneaking through himself and returning it to its original spot.

* * *

The first few minutes of their journey into the subway system were spent in darkness. Nick had his night vision, so he didn't have a problem moving around. Judy, however, decided to take out her phone and turn on the flashlight. It wouldn't have been the best idea for someone who didn't want to get caught, but she decided that someone seeing the light would have been a less likely event than her making a ton of noise after tripping over herself.

Thankfully, they just happened to be in the part of the subway system were the decommissioned subway cars were located, so they didn't have to worry too much about getting run over with actual subway cars, but they still were on their guards just in case that happened.

After spending a few minutes walking in silence along the tracks, Judy's sensitive ears caught wind of a noise coming from about half a mile in front of them.

Turning her phone's flashlight off, Judy quickly caught up to Nick before silently tapping him on the shoulder.

Even though she had a lot of trouble being able to see Nick through the darkness, she knew that he would be able to see her clearly, so once she managed to catch Nick moving his head, she immediately went into what she was about to say, hoping that Nick would be able to understand.

After holding a finger to her mouth to silence him, she quickly pointed in the direction of where the sound was coming from before tugging on one of her ears.

Luckily, Nick was able to understand the relatively simple series of hand signals, so after flicking one of his ears in the direction of where Judy was pointing, his expression brightened when he heard the noise as well.

Quickly grabbing Judy by the paw, Nick led the way as the two of them made their way over to where the noise was coming from, which as they got closer ended up turning into someone talking.

Once they finally reached their destination, which turned out to be a lit-up room off to the side of the tracks, Judy pressed herself up against the wall next to the doorway, sneaking a peek inside to find that the exact ram they were looking for was in the middle of a phone conversation, if his matching attire was anything to go by.

Ducking back behind the wall, Judy stared into the opposite end of the tunnel as she tried to figure out the best way to take care of the ram so that they could freely search for clues as to the identity of the killer.

She was so focused on figuring things out that she failed to notice Nick slip by her, only finally seeing him once he was standing in front of the opening into the room itself.

"Nick, what are you doing? He's going to see you!" she whispered, annoyed that he was not being stealthy.

Judy was fully expecting Nick to quickly run back and apologize, but instead he raised a fist, jutting a thumb out towards the room as he looked towards her.

"He already left. I think we should get started before he comes back."

Judy's eyes widened, a little unsure if Nick was just messing with her or not, but as she took another peek around the room, she saw that there was in fact no sign of the ram anywhere.

Now, it didn't mean that he wasn't still nearby, but Judy decided that it was probably best to take the opportunity while she had it.

After gesturing with her head towards the room, Judy rushed forwards, pulling out her phone as she prepared the camera. Thankfully, this was one of the few rooms inside the normally dark subway system that was actually lit, so she had no issue finding the more suspicious items.

"Whoa…what is this?" she said quietly, taking pictures of the entire room as she didn't want to miss anything.

"I don't know." said Nick, his eyes wide in shock as he registered the incriminating evidence in front of him.

After taking another picture on her phone, Judy looked over to where Nick was and saw that he was currently frozen in one spot, his jaw hanging open as he was looking at something which became pretty important once Judy looked over as well.

An entire arsenal of weaponry sat on a table underneath a corkboard covered in pictures of mammals. Stepping closer, Judy studied the board in question while also taking pictures, recognizing that not only were all of the pictures of the mammals predator, she also could see that one of the pictures was of Derek Chase himself, his picture marred with a large black X most likely written in marker.

There were also two other mammals with their faces crossed off on their pictures, which she assumed must have been the other two victims. However, as much as she was curious about the actual identities of the victims, she was more concerned with what the presence of the corkboard entailed for Zootopia.

"This makes no sense! Why do all of these mammals have to be marked for death like this?" she asked, gesturing towards the board as she turned towards Nick.

"I don't know either, Fluff." said Nick, his expression tense. "If we don't stop any more of these mammals from being taken out, there's no telling what kind of city we're going to come back to."

Judy's attention was still on the multitudes of pictures in front of her, but after a few more seconds, she sighed.

"You're right. I think I've got all of the pictures that I need, so let's get them to the ZPD before it's too late."

"I don't think you're going to make it there if I have anything to say about it."

Both Nick and Judy froze, not recognizing the new voice in their midst.

Whipping around, they were both shocked to find that the ram had finally returned, and he had a pistol in one of hooves pointed in their direction.

"Say goodbye."

"Run!"

Judy barely had time to register Nick's warning before she was off like a rocket, Nick following close behind as the ram gave chase, firing off a shot every few seconds.

At first, staying ahead of the wildly firing ram was a little awkward, but after quickly stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Judy was fully able to concentrate on running.

As for Nick, though, he wasn't as physically fit as Judy was, so he ended up having a bit of difficulty keeping up with her. However, he also had his general wiliness as an advantage, so in an attempt to cover the fact that he wasn't as fast as Judy, he spent his time focusing more on dodging shots.

Eventually, though, even the academy-trained Judy was winded, and Nick was quickly able to notice thanks to the fact that he was actually catching up to her.

Worried, Nick rushed forwards, picking Judy up before slipping into a nearby subway car, which was thankfully still open.

After taking a peek around to make sure the ram didn't see them go in, Nick ducked down with Judy, holding her tightly as the only thing they could hear outside of the crunch of gravel was their own frantic breaths.

Unfortunately, losing the ram wasn't as easy as they thought it would be, as both Nick and Judy could hear that not only was the sound of crunching gravel getting closer, there was even two more pairs of feet adding to the noise.

Both of them traded looks, realizing that the ram must have gotten some backup, so they couldn't afford to stay any longer, especially knowing that the others might also have weapons on them.

Once a silent agreement was shared between the two of them, Judy counted down with her paw before the two of them rushed out of the subway car; the gunfire starting up again once the rams realized that they were exposed once more.

Once again, it was Judy taking up the front while Nick followed as close behind as he could, but once the architecture around them began to improve systematically, both of them soon realized that they were getting into the parts of the system that were still being used, so they knew they had to get off of the tracks as soon as they could.

Thankfully, they soon passed by a section of the tracks that Judy recognized as one she usually took on the way to and from work, so after quickly trying to remember exactly where they were in the city, she turned her head back to face Nick, hoping that she wouldn't end up tripping in her attempt to share this new information with him.

"I think we're getting close to the museum! We cut through there, and it's a straight shot to the ZPD!" she shouted, hoping Nick heard her.

Thankfully, as she turned to face forwards once again, she caught Nick out of the corner of her eye, silently nodding before ducking another gunshot.

A few more minutes of running passed before Judy saw the side entrance to the museum come up.

Hopping up on to the subway platform (which was thankfully empty), Judy and Nick rushed forwards, jumping over the velvet rope barrier and sprinting into the halls of the museum.

Before they could actually get to the front doors, though, the two of them came to a stop when the doors opened to reveal someone they didn't expect to see.

"Assistant Mayor Bellwether?" asked Judy, confused as she watched the little sheep come up to greet them. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Chief Bogo told me that you were getting close to solving those mysterious murders that we've been having over these last few weeks. I figured I'd meet you here and see if you've managed to find some clues about the identity of our killer."

"Yeah, we did. I was just about to head to the ZPD to turn in these pictures I took." said Judy.

"Oh, there's no need for that." said Bellwether, dialing up the sweetness in her voice. "I'll take it over myself. Besides, I'm sure you two could use a rest. You look pretty winded."

Judy was about to reach into her pocket and pull out her phone, but it was then that something clicked in her mind, and she quickly realized that something strange was going on.

"Wait…how did you know where we were going to be?"

Despite the valid question, Bellwether failed to answer, the same sweet smile plastered on to her face as she began walking forwards, her hoof held out for Judy's phone.

As for Judy, her suspicions were soon confirmed after Bellwether's non-reply, as she began to realize that there was a different side to the sheep that she never thought would come out.

As both Nick and Judy began backing away from the increasingly menacing Bellwether, they turned around only to find that one of the rams had caught up to them, the gun largely forgotten as the expression on the ram's face made it look like he wanted nothing more than to beat the two to within an inch of their lives.

 **To Be Concluded…**


	25. Chapter 25

Both Nick and Judy traded looks as the ram advanced menacingly on the two of them, Bellwether watching from a safe distance behind them.

They didn't have very many options when it came to getting out of the predicament that they were in, especially considering the ram filled most of the surprisingly thin hallway with his bulk.

"You know, you can make this a lot easier on yourselves if you just hand me your phone. I'm sure I'll be able to talk him down…maybe."

Even though neither of them were even looking at Bellwether, Judy could feel the smugness radiating off of the sheep, a disgusted shiver running through her body as she thought about what she said.

Before she could actually think of a good comeback, though, she was suddenly pushed off to the side as the ram charged, barely missing her as he flew past.

She did manage to keep her feet despite the sudden loss of her balance, but she was so caught off guard by the sudden movement that she didn't start moving herself until she noticed the ram coming to a stop behind and start charging towards them.

Biting back a curse, Judy turned around and shot off like a rocket, running as quickly as possible as the ram gave chase.

Unfortunately, despite pushing herself as hard as she could manage to stay ahead, the ram was built to use momentum to his advantage, so he was managing to keep up without any real issues.

Thankfully, though, when it seemed like the ram was going to catch her, Judy was roughly pulled into a dark corner, the ram flying past in his haste to get to her.

There was only the sound of rustling for the next few moments as Judy struggled mightily against her captor. However, after a few seconds, she managed to get a good look at the paw around her mouth and noticed that it belonged to Nick.

Before she could say anything, though, Nick shushed her before looking out into the distance, his ears flicking around as he attempted to see if there was anyone nearby.

Once he was satisfied that no one would hear him, Nick released Judy and set her down next to him before leaning over to whisper into her ear.

"I'm going to try to sneak my way towards the exit. Just do what I do, and we should be fine, alright?"

Judy remained silent, showing her understanding with a simple nod before getting herself ready.

As for Nick, he peeked his head back into the light to make sure no one was around before quickly ducking back into the corner when he heard Bellwether's voice echo from a few hallways down.

"Come on, Judy! I'm only looking out for the little guy here! Remember what I said back at City Hall? Well, I'm sure you do." she said dismissively.

Nick decided that now was probably the best time for them to move before Bellwether got too close, so after giving Judy a tap on the shoulder to signal that he was going, the two of them made their way away from the direction of Bellwether's voice as they hugged the wall to stay out of sight as best as they could.

Unfortunately for them, even though the museum was closed and most of the lights were off, there was enough light that they still cast shadows.

Bellwether, being the perceptive sheep that she was, noticed the shadows right away, signaling for the other rams, who by now had finally arrived at the museum, to follow them.

After travelling through what felt like a never ending stream of corridors, Nick and Judy finally came up on the glass doors of the second entrance to the museum.

Excited, the two of them picked up speed, but the first ram, who had been spending the last fifteen minutes searching for them after losing Judy, cut them off, tackling them with one of his broad shoulders before pinning them to the ground.

As much the two of them struggled, they were two smaller animals going up against a much larger one, so they had no real chance of slipping out, especially with the position they were in currently.

Eventually, Judy gave up on trying to get out of the hold in favor of formulating a different way to get out of their predicament. However, the weight on her back was making it difficult for her to breath, and by proxy it made it difficult for her to concentrate.

Thankfully, though, Bellwether unexpectedly was there to provide relief as she turned around the corner, her expression darkening a bit as she saw the scene in front of her.

"Doug, you're suffocating them. Ease up on the pressure a bit."

The ram, who Judy now knew was named Doug, did as Bellwether asked and loosened the pressure on her. While she still had some difficulty breathing, she wasn't in any real danger of passing out, which gave her more than enough opportunity to give Bellwether the darkest glare she could muster.

"Well, I'm certainly glad to see that you're as feisty as ever." said Bellwether, only acknowledging Judy's glare with a smirk. "It's too bad you're not going to live long enough to continue to be that way, though."

Judy was admittedly a little puzzled as to what Bellwether meant by that, but her eyes widened a few seconds later when she saw one of the other rams hand Bellwether a pistol.

Trying desperately to keep herself calm in the face of her imminent demise, Judy focused on formulating the best way to keep her talking so that she didn't immediately get shot.

Unfortunately, Nick had already beat her to the punch, as when he saw the gun in her hoof, he panicked, knowing where this was going judging by what Bellwether had said.

"Hey, there's no need for this Bellwether! She'll just hand over her phone, and you'll let us go, right?" he asked, adopting a smile on his muzzle despite the sheer panic he was going through.

Judy was fully expecting at this point for Bellwether to say no, knowing that it would be way too easy for that method to happen. What she didn't expect was for Bellwether's gun to go off, and a scream of pain to erupt from the fox's maw.

"Nick!" she yelled, struggling to turn herself around so she could see where he was hit.

"I'm okay! Don't worry about me." said Nick, although the way he spit out those words made Judy believe otherwise.

Thinking as quickly as she could of the best way to get out of here before Nick bled to death, Judy felt an involuntary twitch go through her arm, only to realize that she could actually still move her paw.

Her eyes widened in surprise, not expecting this stroke of luck, but she soon mentally kicked herself as she hoped that Bellwether didn't notice that fact.

Thankfully, though, it appeared that Bellwether was too focused on what she had done to Nick to notice, so Judy took it as a good sign.

"How about you keep your muzzle shut, fox? Otherwise the next one's going right between your eyes?" said Bellwether, a vicious sneer on her face as she stood nose to nose with Nick.

Bending her wrist as far as she could manage, Judy reached into her pocket and pulled out her carrot pen, thankful that she remembered to keep it with her after getting it replaced during her stay back home.

Hiding the instrument as best as she could, Judy turned back to the sheep in front of her just as Bellwether stepped away from Nick.

"Now, where were we?" Bellwether asked to herself, thinking for a few seconds before she suddenly remembered.

Walking forwards, Bellwether pointed the pistol right at Judy's face, but before she could actually fire, she reluctantly held back when Judy spoke up.

"Wait, wait!"

"What is it?" she asked, annoyed as she lowered the gun to her side.

"Before you kill me, I just want to know one thing."

Bellwether audibly sighed, thinking about what to do for a few seconds before finally figuring that there was no reason not to humor her.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Judy could hear Bellwether audibly scoff, a smug expression once again appearing on her face as she decided to answer her question with as much derision as the sheep could muster.

"To spread fear, of course! The more victims, the more the predator population is riled up, especially with the ZPD running around in circles and not getting anywhere with finding me."

Bellwether then took a few steps back, twirling around once in her excitement as she continued to explain herself. In her excitement, though, she failed to notice Judy subtly press the record button on her pen, hoping that there was enough space to record as much incriminating evidence as she could.

"Once the tension explodes into full-blown rioting, then all of the prey will go straight to me for protection, and I'll rule this city!"

"Why murder, though?" asked Judy, becoming increasingly disgusted as she listened to Bellwether speak. "It's…it's barbaric!"

Bellwether stepped back towards the two of them, going nose to nose with Judy just like she did with Nick, her tone laced with venom as she spoke.

"Because I want to show Zootopia that the predator population is as dangerous now as they were back before we evolved."

Without waiting for a reply, Bellwether stood up, pointing the gun at Judy as she prepared to fire.

However, fate intervened, as while Judy was busy keeping Bellwether talking, Nick was frantically trying to get out of the borderline chokehold that Doug had on him. Of course, the bullet wound didn't help matters, either, but he did his best to ignore the pain.

He didn't honestly expect to be able to fully get out, but he was able to use Doug readjusting his grip to his advantage, spinning around and latching his jaws around Doug's arm.

As Doug screamed in pain from the sharp teeth embedded in his arm, Judy took the opportunity, not wanting to waste any time trying to figure out what happened after coming so close to getting shot herself.

Once Doug released her from his grip in his haste to unlatch Nick from his arm, Judy spun on to her back, kicking out as hard as she could manage, successfully connecting with Doug's face in an eerily similar scene to her infamous run in with Gideon when she was a kit.

Bellwether could only watch, stunned as Doug fell to the ground, stunned as well but still conscious.

The sheep barely had any time to recover from the brazen move before Judy and Nick were off running again, the latter having released Doug's arm, spitting out a chunk of wool before following Judy.

"What are you waiting for? Get them!" she yelled, signaling for the other rams to follow.

The two of them gave chase, but by the time they even got far, Nick and Judy were already outside the doors, the former pushing himself through the pain as they rushed to the ZPD.

As for Bellwether, she wanted nothing more than to prevent the two of them from getting there, so despite not being dressed for running, she followed closely behind the two rams as they chased Nick and Judy across the main square.

Unfortunately, the head start the smaller mammals got was too much for even the rams to overcome, as by the time they even got across the street to the ZPD, Nick and Judy had managed to slip through the doors to the precinct.

Coming to a stop, Bellwether quickly handed her gun off to one of the rams, readjusting her suit before heading inside, desperate to take advantage of her last opportunity to prevent Nick and Judy from ruining her plans.

* * *

Judy led the way up the precinct's stairs, completely ignoring Clawhauser as he attempted to say hi. Thankfully, though, his disappointment was tempered a little bit due to Nick quickly giving him an apologetic look.

After a few more minutes of walking, Judy came up to Chief Bogo's door, knocking on the door a little too hard in her haste to expose Bellwether.

"Come in."

Judy opened the door to be greeted by the surprised look on Bogo's face, as the cape buffalo wasn't expecting to see her at this time of the day.

"Chief Bogo! You really need to see this!"

Without waiting for an answer, Judy pulled out her phone, which was thankfully still in one piece, and pulled up the pictures, handing it over to him once it was ready.

As Bogo flipped through the pictures, his eyes grew more and more wider as he registered what exactly they contained.

"Where in the bloody hell did you find these things, Hopps?" he asked, showing her one of the pictures.

"It's inside the part of the subway system where the decommissioned cars were. It's close to one of the old entrances a few miles from here."

Bogo paused for a few moments as he considered what Judy had said. Setting the phone down on the desk, he gently rubbed at his temples to relieve an oncoming headache before speaking to Judy once more.

"This is all well and good, Hopps, but this still doesn't explain who actually committed these murders."

Judy didn't actually answer immediately, which gave Bogo enough time to glance over at Nick and notice the fact that he was bleeding, the buffalo's eyes widening once more as he saw what was in front of him.

"Good lord, Wilde! You're bleeding!"

"Thank you, I've noticed." said Nick dryly, earning him a glare from the buffalo.

Bogo briefly considered sending him down to the infirmary to get patched up, but unfortunately at the moment there wasn't any time to waste, so after ruffling through his drawers, Bogo surprisingly came up with a white towel, tossing it over to Nick.

"Use this. Can't have you bleeding all over my floor."

While it was meant for animals of Bogo's size, Nick was more than happy to use it, pressing it up against the bullet wound in his shoulder to stem the blood flow just as Judy began speaking once more.

"Actually, I do know who did it. It was-"

Before she could actually say who it was, the door to Bogo's office opened, revealing Bellwether herself, who looked winded as she apparently rushed up to the office.

"It was her, Chief."

"Assistant Mayor Bellwether?" asked Bogo, glancing over at the sheep in confusion.

"Yes, Chief, it was her. She was the one who shot Nick in the shoulder, and she was about to kill me when we managed to escape."

"Are you seriously going to believe this tripe, Chief Bogo? Me…Dawn Bellwether…capable of murder?"

"It wasn't just her, Chief." said Judy, frantic. "She had the help of three rams. One of them was named Doug."

"Oh please. It's my word against yours, Judy. Who do you think he's going to believe?"

Judy was almost beginning to believe that Bellwether managed to back her into a corner, but she suddenly remembered that she still had her ace in the hole.

Reaching into her pocket once more, she pulled out the carrot pen, brandishing it for a few seconds before looking towards Bellwether.

"Actually, it's your word against yours."

As she looked at Bellwether's confused expression, Judy hit play, and everything she said back in the museum played for the entire room to hear.

Judy glanced over to where Bogo was seated and smiled when she noticed the look of suspicion that the buffalo was giving Bellwether.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart." said Judy smugly, brandishing the pen like a trophy when the recording finally stopped.

Bellwether, knowing that her plans were now exposed, started backing away as she attempted to make an escape.

However, McHorn and Fangmeyer just happened to be outside the door as they attempted to find out what was going on with Nick, Judy, and Bellwether hasty entrances, and they blocked the doorway, preventing her from going anywhere.

"Dawn Bellwether." said Bogo, standing up as he made his way over to her. "You are under arrest for three counts of murder, as well as attempting to incite a riot."

With nowhere to go, Bellwether allowed herself to be cuffed and led away by the two officers, leaving Judy and Nick alone with Bogo once more.

"Good work, you two. I certainly did not expect it to be who it was, but I am glad that this will satisfy the predator population."

Bogo paused, turning his head to focus entirely on Nick, a hint of a smile on his face despite a majority of it being his usual surly self.

"Mr. Wilde. Clawhauser has told me about how well you and Hopps have been working together investigating this case."

Nick glanced over at Judy, surprise etched on his face as he wondered where he got that kind of information from. Judy, however, didn't seem to want to tell, judging from her quickly looking away from him once the two of them met eyes.

"Anyway, as much as it pains me to admit it, judging from your past…transgressions…"

Nick thankfully remained silent, allowing Bogo to continue.

"If you are willing, and you do well at the academy, I would be open to having the two of you working together as partners. That is, however, only if you do well. I will not have you coast through and barely do enough to pass."

Despite the veiled threat, Nick still paused as he considered Bogo's, and by proxy Judy's, question.

"Well, I'd love to, but the only problem is that I don't have a form to fill out. Plus, my shoulder's kind of killing me right now."

Nick gestured to his shoulder, with the red stain on the towel growing increasingly larger as time passed.

As for Bogo, he sighed, realizing that they were wasting time.

"Go down to the infirmary and get yourself patched up, Wilde. I'll find you an application form while you're taking care of it."

Nick was more than willing to do what Bogo asked, considering the pain he was going through.

Just as he was about to leave the office, though, he was forced to stop when Judy suddenly spoke up from off to the side.

"Actually Chief, I don't believe that he needs to worry about filling out that form."

Both Nick and Bogo rounded on Judy, the former confused while the latter was more puzzled.

"What do you mean, Hopps?"

Instead of answering, Judy reached into her back pocket, pulling out a slightly crumpled piece of paper that no doubt got that way from her sitting on it. Unfolding it, Nick's eyes widened as he realized that the paper was in fact the application form that he was about to submit before their incident at the hospital.

Before he could say much, Bogo walked over, grabbing the paper out of Judy's paws before reading it over.

"Well…looks like everything's in order. I don't know how this got into your paws, but I'm not going to ask questions."

As Bogo went to file it away, Nick paused in his stride, walking over to where Judy was as he whispered in her ear.

"You kept it?"

"Of course! I couldn't throw it away."

Judy didn't say any more after that, so after a few moments spent reflecting, Nick finally left the room, lost in thought as he thought about what she had done.

* * *

 **Six months later…**

There was an air of celebration within Zootopia. Ever since news broke of Dawn Bellwether's arrest, life has finally gone back to normal, or at least as normal as things could get.

The important thing, though, was happening inside one of the parks just outside of the main square.

A crowd of mammals gathered in front of a large stage as the graduation ceremony for the most recent Police Academy class was already underway.

On the stage were some of the most important mammals in the city, including Chief Bogo and Mayor Lionheart, who were both sitting on chairs as they listened to Judy give a speech at the podium standing at the front of the stage.

"Whenever I came to Zootopia, I was taught that this was a city where anyone can be anything. After spending some time here, though, I realized that it wasn't the perfect utopia that I thought it was. Still, I've grown to love this city, even with all of its faults."

Judy paused, taking the time to glance down at Nick in the front row, decked out in the front row with his formal police uniform, just about to graduate himself and join Judy in Precinct 1.

As for Nick himself, he acknowledged Judy's look by lifting the aviator shades that he had on, giving her a wink.

Smiling, Judy looked back towards the crowd, more specifically to the new cadets in the front row as she began to address them.

"All of you are capable of doing great things, but don't let it get to your head. I learned that the hard way."

Judy fell silent for a few seconds, reflecting a bit on her experiences since she moved to Zootopia.

"Anyway, all I ask of all of you is one thing. Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and realize that change starts with you, as well as everyone else."

Finished with her speech, Judy stepped down from the podium through applause from the crowd before Chief Bogo stepped up.

"Officer Nicholas Wilde! As valedictorian of this class, you have the honor of the first badge. Front and center!"

Nick willingly stepped forwards, climbing up the stairs on to the stage before coming to a stop in front of Judy, standing at parade rest as he waited for the next step.

As for Judy, once Nick was in front of her with his shades in his free paw after being removed from his head, she pulled out a small box, opening it to reveal a shiny new badge, Nick's name engraved on a small plate under it.

Pulling it out, Judy pinned the badge to Nick's uniform right where she remembered getting hers way back when, a tear coming to her eye as she remembered that moment.

As the two of them shared crisp salutes, and the rest of the crowd cheered, Nick couldn't help but say one more thing.

"You ready to make the world a better place, partner?"

Judy was admittedly a little caught off guard by what Nick had said, but a smile went to her face as she realized just how far they've gotten in the six months they've known each other.

"You know it."

 **And that's all she wrote! I really wanted to thank all of you for sticking with me, especially once the word spread about this on ZNN. This, as of right now, is my most popular story, and I am so hyped about it!**

 **Anyway, before I go, I wanted to share one thing with you guys. Remember way earlier in the story when Nick suggested to Judy that he might come visit Bunnyburrow with her? I do…and I'm following through on that promise. There will be a sequel to this story where that does happen, so The Worst Connection is technically not over quite yet. I will be taking a small break, though, to focus on New Age and After So Long, considering I've barely updated the latter, but once I get started on the sequel, I will let you guys know.**

 **Once again, thank you so much for all of the support, and I'll see you all later!**


	26. Sequel Update

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that the first chapter of the sequel has now been posted on my profile. It's called The (Not So) Great Outdoors.

Also, as a quick note to ZNN, I'm not sure how you guys missed it, but last chapter was in fact supposed to be the end of that part of the story. Somehow that fact didn't get mentioned in the update. Nothing against you guys. I just wanted to clear things up just so the readers aren't confused.


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